Autonomy

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General whether the Serious Fraud Office has decided to investigate the sale of Autonomy or refer the case to another law enforcement agency.

Dominic Grieve: Allegations have been made to the SFO about the circumstances of the sale in 2011 of autonomy to Hewlett Packard. The Director of the Serious Fraud Office has decided to open an investigation into these allegations, with a view to using his powers of investigation to allow them to be tested.

Autonomy

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General on what date the Serious Fraud Office (a) opened an investigation into the sale of Autonomy, (b) became aware of a possible conflict of interest in conducting that investigation and (c) initiated internal enquiries into that possible conflict of interest.

Dominic Grieve: The SFO has always been aware of the risk of conflict or perception of conflict in this case. It has, from the outset, kept the issue under careful-review, and it will continue to do so as the investigation develops. The Director accepted the case for investigation on 31 January 2013.

Crown Prosecution Service

John Hemming: To ask the Attorney-General what assessment he has made of the robustness and effectiveness of the present form of accountability and oversight of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Dominic Grieve: It is of fundamental constitutional importance, and a legal requirement, that the prosecuting authorities act independently of Government and Parliament so that all prosecutorial decisions are made, and are seen to be made, free of any political influence, based solely on an assessment of the evidence and of the public interest.
	As Attorney-General, also in this respect acting independently of Government and Parliament, I have statutory superintendence of the Director of Public Prosecutions and, through him, the CPS. The relationship between the Attorney-General and the DPP was considered in the Constitutional Renewal programme under the last Government and resulted in a protocol between the Attorney-General and the DPP. The protocol is publicly available. My answerability in Parliament in respect of the DPP means that the Attorney-General is ready always to seek to explain to Parliament the role, the policies and the approach to decision-making of the CPS. Parliament, in turn, has always recognised that the merits of any prosecution decision, and (the guilt or innocence of individuals, must be determined in the usual way by the courts rather than public debate.
	In addition, the Director has himself given evidence to the Justice and Home Affairs Committees. As Accounting Officer for the CPS, he is directly accountable to Parliament for the expenditure of public funds.

Biofuels

Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to secure biomass conversion on existing sites.

John Hayes: The Department provides support for the conversion of existing power stations through the Renewables Obligation. Until 31 March 2013, support is available for fully converted stations at a rate of l.5 ROCs per MWh. From 1 April 2013, subject to State Aid approval, support for stations converting to biomass will be available as set out in the following table.
	
		
			 Band ROC support per MWh 
			 Low-range co-firing of biomass 0.3 ROCs until 31 March 2015 
			  0.5 ROCs from 1 March 2015 
			   
			 Mid-range co-firing of biomass 0.6 ROCS 
			   
			 High range co-firing of biomass 0.7 ROCs until 31 March 2014 
			  0.9 ROCs from 1 April 2014 
			   
			 Biomass conversion 1 ROC 
		
	
	Furthermore, we published on 14 March 2013, the Government's ‘Final Investment Decision Enabling for Renewables’ programme which sets out the opportunity for an early form of Contract for Difference and will be available to biomass conversions.
	The Government aims to offer investment contracts to successful applicants in the autumn, based on the draft strike prices and contract terms that will be published in the summer under the First EMR Delivery Plan.
	By helping developers make final investment decisions this year, this process should allow construction to start on a number of projects sooner than otherwise would have been the case.
	Decisions about the choice of scheme and whether to convert existing plants from fossil fuel to biomass will need to be taken by investors in those facilities.

Biofuels

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect on imports of a cap on subsidies on (a) current and (b) future imports of bioliquids.

John Hayes: In July 2012, we published the Government response to the RO banding review consultation explaining the decisions reached on support for electricity generated from bioliquids. The Government response was accompanied by an impact assessment of the RO banding decisions.
	We are introducing a 4% cap on the proportion of their renewables obligation that electricity suppliers can meet using certificates issued for electricity generated from bioliquids (with exceptions for CHP stations below 1 MW, energy from waste with CHP, advanced conversion fuels and microgenerators). The bioliquids cap equates to approximately 2 TWh of bioliquid electricity generation in 2017. The modelling for the impact assessment accompanying the Government response to the RO banding review showed that the support levels set for April 2013 onwards are not expected to bring on additional new deployment of bioliquid electricity generation, however, this is uncertain and there could be a small amount of new deployment of low cost bioliquid generation.
	The impact assessment does not assess the likely source of the bioliquids. However, to date the vast majority electricity generated through the RO from bioliquids has been wastes, and we expect most of these will have been sourced from the UK. Only electricity generated from bioliquids which meet the mandatory sustainability criteria are eligible for support, regardless of their source.

Electricity Generation

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what measure the Government intends to use to determine whether participation of demand-side response, including embedded generation, within the capacity mechanism is successful.

John Hayes: The Government is committed to ensuring that demand side-response (DSR) can participate effectively within the capacity market. This is why we have committed to putting in place transitional arrangements within the capacity market which will help develop the capacity and capability of the DSR sector. These arrangements will allow us to better understand how to get the best out of DSR within the capacity market and how the industry is developing within the GB market. The terms of the transitional arrangements, including the process to review success, remain under development. Further details will be published in May 2013.

Green Deal Scheme

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what incentives his Department has put in place to encourage private landlords to participate in the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: Under the Green Deal, landlords will be able to make energy efficiency improvements without having to pay all the costs upfront. Tenants will repay the cost of the measures through their energy bill savings while enjoying a more energy efficient home. This is intended to overcome the “split incentive”, and avoid landlords being unwilling to make improvements which reduce bills that they do not pay.
	The Energy Act 2011 stipulates Government must regulate to help ensure the take up of cost effective energy efficiency improvements in the Private Rented Sector.
	No later than April 2016, domestic landlords will not be able to unreasonably refuse requests from their tenants for consent to energy efficiency improvements, where financial support is available, such as the Green Deal. No later than April 2018, all private rented properties (domestic and non-domestic) will be brought up to a minimum energy efficiency standard rating, likely to be set at EPC rating ‘E'.

Housing: Insulation

Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many homes in Worcester have received insulation in (a) 2012, (b) 2011 and (c) 2010 under his Department's programmes.

Gregory Barker: Information on insulation measures installed under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT), which was the Government's main domestic energy efficiency policy for the period concerned, is compiled by the Home Energy Efficiency Database (HEED) overseen by the Energy Saving Trust. The latest published data is provided below for the Worcester local authority area. For technical reasons the HEED database tends to under report by around 10%, the actual number of installations will therefore be higher. Information on the final period of CERT, covering the period up until the end of 2012, will be published later this year.
	
		
			 CERT years—commencing 2008 (1 April to 31 March) Cavity wall insulation measures Loft insulation measures 
			 CERT Year 1 (2008-09) 837 955 
			 CERT Year 2 (2009-10) 1,312 1,047 
			 CERT Year 3 (2010-11) 829 863 
			 CERT Year 4 (2011-12) 714 1,315

Pay

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was paid in (a) year-end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials in his Department in the last year for which figures are available.

Gregory Barker: The Department uses non-consolidated performance related payments to help drive high performance as they:
	encourage continuous high attainment because the payments are dependent upon continuing strong performance;
	prevent a permanent rise in salary and an increase in pension on the basis of one off performances while still allowing good performance to be rewarded;
	have no long-term costs, in particular it does not increase future pension payments;
	focus the work of employees more directly on the priority goals of the organisation;
	motivate employees by linking an element of compensation to the achievement of objectives rather than offering payment for time served;
	target money at those who make the biggest contribution.
	End-year non-consolidated performance awards are used to reward the Department’s highest performers as assessed in their end of year appraisal reports.
	The Department paid (a) £789,075 in year-end non-consolidated awards and (b) £233,111 as in-year non-consolidated awards for the 2011-12 performance year.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was paid to officials in (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies in bonuses and other payments in addition to salary in each of the last five years; how many officials received such payments; and what the monetary value was of the 20 largest payments made in each year.

Gregory Barker: Details of bonus payments made to officials of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 were provided in the answer published on 17 January 2012, Official Report, column 676-777W, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library. DECC was formed in October 2008 and as such does not hold the information for the 2008-09 financial year or any year prior to this.
	The details of bonus and other payments made in addition to salary by the Department of Energy and Climate Change for 2011-12 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Description 2011-12 
			 Total of bonus and other payments (£) 9,072,483 
			   
			 Number of people receiving payments 1,062 
			   
			 Total of top 20 payments (£) 12,000 x 1 
			  10,000 x 5 
			  7,500 x 14 
		
	
	The details of bonus payments made to officials in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Total amount paid in bonus (£) Total number of employees who received payment Monetary value of 20 largest payments (£) 
			 2008-09 4,999,256 345 753,556 
			 2009-10 4,743,613 353 685,708 
			 2010-11 3,251,350 270 682,022 
		
	
	
		
			 2011-12 3,113,163 286 682,172 
			 2012-13 (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 (1) No data yet available 
		
	
	Details of other payments made in addition salary to other members of staff is held by an outsourced shared service contractor. To gather that information would incur disproportionate costs.
	Details of bonus payments made to officials of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 were provided in the answer published on 17 January 2012, Official Report, columns 676-77W, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library. Data for 2011-12 and 2012-13 are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Description 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Total value of top 20 end year bonus awards (£) 87,425.90 111,917.04 
			    
			 Total number of people receiving awards 158 199 
			    
			 Top 20 payments (£) 7,621.11 15,242.04 
			  6,350.85 13,064.76 
			  6,350.82 10,887.12 
			  6,350.82 10,887.12 
			  5,253.00 5,252.00 
			  4,710.00 5,018.00 
		
	
	
		
			  4,674.00 4,766.00 
			  4,663.00 4,732.00 
			  4,249.00 4,321.00 
			  3,913.00 4,233.00 
			  3,903.00 3,903.00 
			  3,892.10 3,892.00 
			  3,592.60 3,593.00 
			  3,592.60 3,593.00 
			  3,222.00 3,308.00 
			  3,222.00 3,273.00 
			  3,148.00 3,000.00 
			  2,906.00 2,984.00 
			  2,906.00 2,984.00 
			  2,906.00 2,984.00 
		
	
	The details of all other payments paid in addition to salary to officials of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2009-10 1,817,114 
			 2010-11 2,051,026 
			 2011-12 2,112,549 
			 2012-13 (to 31 January 2013) 2,221,202 
		
	
	The details of bonus payments made to officials of the Committee on Climate Change are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Description 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Total value of end year and in year bonus awards (£) 38,278 59,340 50,400 54,652 
			      
			 Total number of people receiving awards 7 12 12 13 
			      
			 Top 20 payments (£) 15,000 x 1 15,000 x 1 15,000 x 1 15,000 x 1 
			  2,600 x 6 4,000 x 1 7,000 x 1 5,000 x 2 
			   2,800 x 1 3,000 x 1 2,000 x 9 
			   1,500 x 2 2,500 x 9 1,600 x 1 
			   1,300 x 3   
			   31,100 x 4   
		
	
	There are no other payments, apart from salary, made to officials at the Committee on Climate Change.
	Details of bonus payments made to officials of the Coal Authority for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 were provided in the answer published on 17 January 2012, Official Report, columns 676-77W, a copy of which is available in the Libraries of the House. The data for 2011-12 are not currently available. A copy of these data will be placed in the House of Commons Library as soon as they are available.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what allowances and subsidies in addition to salary were available to officials in (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value was of such payments and allowances in each such year.

Gregory Barker: The allowances available to civil servants in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) are unchanged from that provided in the answer published on 17 January 2012, Official Report, columns 676-77W, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library except for the monetary value of offshore allowances. These have increased with effect from 1 August 2012 as set out as follows.
	
		
			 Period Rate (£) 
			 Full 24 hours period 100 
			 Part 24 hours period 57.15 
		
	
	There are no subsidies available to civil servants in DECC.
	Details of payments made to senior members of staff within the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is available in their annual resource and accounts via their internet website. Links to these documents are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Internet address 
			 2007-08 http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2007-2008.pdf 
			 2008-09 http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2008-2009.pdf 
			 2009-10 http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2009-2010.pdf 
			 2010-11 http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2010-2011.pdf 
			 2011-12 http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2011-2012.pdf 
		
	
	Details of allowance payments made to other members of staff is held by an outsourced shared service contractor. To gather that information would incur disproportionate costs.
	There no allowances or subsidies available to officials in the Committee on Climate Change.
	The total cost of allowances paid by the Civil Nuclear Police Authority are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Allowance 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 (10 months) 
			 Special Priority Payments 167,369.76 180,100 253,600.47 404,875.57 
			 South East Allowance 206,910.05 269,119.09 309,517.97 293,223.56 
			 Competency Threshold Payment 248,126.84 282,115.88 285,639.69 272,798.63 
		
	
	Details of allowance payments made by the Coal Authority for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 were provided in the answer published in on 17 January 2012, Official Report, columns 676-77W, a copy of which is available in the Libraries of the House. The data for 2011-12 is not currently available. A copy of this data will be placed in the House of Commons Library as soon as it is available.

Recruitment

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials were recruited to (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was created in October 2008 to bring together energy policy (previously with BERR, which is now BIS—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) and climate change mitigation policy (previously with DEFRA—the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Therefore no data exists prior to that date.
	The number of civil servants who have joined DECC is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number joining 
			 January to December 2009 153 
			 January to December 2010 198 
			 January to December 2011 132 
			 January to December 2012 339 
			 January to February 2013 55 
		
	
	The number of officials who have joined the Coal Authority is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number joining 
			 April 2008 to March 2009 11 
			 April 2009 to March 2010 11 
			 April 2010 to March 2011 5 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 9 
			 April 2012 to February 2013 14 
		
	
	The number of officials who have joined the Civil Nuclear Police Authority is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number joining 
			 January to December 2008 80 
			 January to December 2009 129 
			 January to December 2010 100 
			 January to December 2011 261 
			 January to December 2012 215 
			 January to February 2013 75 
		
	
	The number of officials who have joined the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number joining 
			 March 2008 to February 2009 51 
			 March 2009 to February 2010 27 
			 March 2010 to February 2011 8 
			 March 2011 to February 2012 21 
			 March 2012 to February 2013 31 
		
	
	The number of officials who have joined the Committee on Climate Change is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number joining 
			 November 2008(1) to March 2009 22 
			 April 2009 to March 2010 16 
			 April 2010 to March 2011 9 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 9 
			 (1) The Committee on Climate Change was created on 26 November 2008.

Redundancy Pay

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was paid by his Department in redundancy payments in each of the last two years; and how many officials received such payments.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change's expenditure on redundancy and number of officials receiving such payments in each of the last two years is published in its annual report and accounts as follows:
	2011-12 report (HC 63) page 118:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48452/5718-decc-annual-report-and-accounts-201112-.pdf

Sick Leave

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many days (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies has lost to staff sickness in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such absence in each year.

Gregory Barker: The following tables show the number of days of sickness absence recorded for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and for each of the non-departmental public bodies for which it is responsible.
	
		
			 DECC 
			  Number of days of sickness absence Estimated cost of absence(1 )(£) 
			 1 January to 31 December 2012 3,731 630,733 
			 1 January to 31 December 2011 4,958.5 871,318 
			 1 January to 31 December 2010 4,011.5 711,021 
			 (1 )The estimated cost of the absences have been calculated on 2012 average salary costs as civil servants have been subject to a pay freeze for the past two years. 
		
	
	Prior to 2010 the Shared Service provision for DECC was delivered by our predecessor departments. Data prior to that date are not held centrally and to gather it would incur disproportionate costs.
	
		
			 Committee on climate change 
			  Number of days of sickness absence Estimated cost of absence(1)(£) 
			 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 20 2,600 
			 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 29 3,800 
			 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010 21 2,800 
			 26 November 2008(1) to 31 March 2009 5 7,000 
			 (1 )The Committee on Climate Change was formed on 26 November 2008. 
		
	
	
		
			 Nuclear Decommissioning Authority 
			  Number of days of sickness absence Estimated cost of absence 
			 1 March 2011 to 29 February 2012 1,214 (1)— 
			 1 March 2010 to 28 February 2011 1,487 (1)— 
			 1 March 2009 to 28 February 2010 1,635 (1)— 
			 1 March 2008 to 28 February 2009 1,591 (1)— 
			 1 March 2008 to 28 February 2009 4.92 (1)— 
			 (1 )The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has made no estimate of the cost of such absences as these were significantly lower than the national average days lost. To calculate these costs would incur disproportionate costs. 
		
	
	
		
			 Coal Authority 
			  Number of days of sickness absence Estimated cost of absence (£) 
			 1 April 2012 to 28 February 2013 826 87,700 
			 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 701 59,700 
			 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 721 81,500 
			 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010 574.5 45,500 
			 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 751 79,500 
		
	
	The Civil Nuclear Police Authority have not been able to supply the data for this response. Their response will be placed in the House of Commons Library as soon as it is available.

Temporary Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department paid in agency fees for temporary staff in each of the last two years; and how many individuals received such payments.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change spend on temporary staff is published in its annual report and accounts 2010-11 (HC 1009 page 11):
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48141/2212-decc-annual-report-20102011.pdf
	and 2011-12 (HC 63 page 44):
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48452/5718-decc-annual-report-and-accounts-201112-.pdf
	We are unable to identify the proportion of the expenditure that relates to agency fees because, generally, the agency invoices do not separate their fee from the underlying cost of the temporary staff member. The number of individuals in receipt of payments cannot be determined without incurring disproportionate costs.

Termination of Employment

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies have left that body due to (i) resignation, (ii) retirement, (iii) redundancy, (iv) transferral to another public sector post and (v) another reason in each of the last five years.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was created in October 2008, to bring together energy policy (previously with BERR, which is now BIS—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), and climate change mitigation policy (previously with DEFRA—the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Therefore no data exists prior to that date.
	The number of civil servants who have left DECC is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Resignation Retirement Redundancy Transfer to other Government Departments Other Total 
			 January to December 2009 10 — — 18 53 81 
			 January to December 2010 14 4 — 7 36 61 
			 January to December 2011 40 9 — 18 53 120 
			 January to December 2012 46 10 — 45 72 173 
			 January to February 2013 2 1 — 10 6 19 
		
	
	The number of officials who have left the Coal Authority are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Resignation Retirement Redundancy Transfer to other public sector post Other Total 
			 April 2008 to March 2009 11 1 2 — — 14 
			 April 2009 to March 2010 7 1 — — 2 10 
			 April 2010 to March 2011 8 3 — — 2 13 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 8 1 31 — 1 41 
			 April 2012 to February 2013 7 — 2 — 2 11 
		
	
	The number of officials who have left the Committee on Climate Change are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Resignation Retirement Redundancy Transfer to other public sector post Other Total 
			 November 2008(1) to March 2009 — — — 6 — 6 
			 April 2009 to March 2010 — — — 1 3 4 
			 April 2010 to March 2011 — — — 1 3 4 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 1 — — 6 5 12 
			 (1 )The Committee on Climate Change was formed on 26 November 2008. 
		
	
	The number of officials who have left the Civil Nuclear Police Authority are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Resignation Retirement Redundancy Transfer to other police sector body Other Total 
			 January to December 2008 15 22 1 9 6 53 
			 January to December 2009 26 15 1 15 9 66 
			 January to December 2010 25 19 — 3 9 58 
			 January to December 2011 40 15 — — 11 66 
			 January to December 2012 55 18 2 — 7 82 
			 January to February 2013 14 — — — 3 17 
		
	
	The number of officials who have left the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Redundancy Retirement Resignation Transfer to other public sector post Other Total 
			 March 2008 to February 2009 — 3 18 — 4 25 
			 March 2009 to February 2010 —  17 — 1 18 
			 March 2010 to February 2011 72 1 20 — 1 94 
			 March 2011 to February 2012 1 — 4 — 1 6 
			 March 2012 to February 2013 — 3 16 — 3 22

Digital Technology

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 22 November 2012, Official Report, column 615W, on digital technology, what discussions she has had in the last six months with (a) ministerial colleagues and (b) key stakeholders about the challenges posed by digital exclusion.

Edward Vaizey: No meetings have been held specifically on digital inclusion as Cabinet Office leads on this policy area. However, DCMS does lead on e-accessibility that seeks to ensure that people with disabilities are able to have access to telecommunications services. As part of this work, I met with the Minister for Disabled People, my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral West (Esther McVey), recently to discuss how both our Departments can work better together on joining up the work of my Departments eAccessibility Forum and the Office for Disability Issues development of the cross-government Fulfilling Potential, Disability Strategy. As part of our wider departmental discussions around the digital inclusion agenda we also discussed the accessibility of telecommunication services, in particular relay services in the UK for disabled and older people, as well as access to recruitment websites for disabled people looking for work.
	I have also held several round table meetings with Ofcom and key stakeholders from the telecommunications industry and businesses with public facing customer service functions, to highlight the need for them to have accessible contact strategies that use a mix of email, SMS, text, and video relay services to facilitate engagement with disabled customers.

Gambling

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to restrict the amount of online gambling advertisements on television.

Hugh Robertson: The Government is not aware of evidence that the current advertising arrangements are jeopardising the licensing objectives of the Gambling Act, but if new compelling evidence emerged which clearly highlighted the need to look again at the restrictions in place it would, in the first instance, be for the appropriate regulators to consider and take action under their existing codes and regulations.

Gaming Machines

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many B2 gaming machines are present in each local authority area in England and Wales in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Hugh Robertson: The Gambling Commission's Industry Statistics 2008-11 published at:
	http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/gh-about_us/annual_report_and_accounts.aspx
	show that, as at 30 September 2011, 33,982 category B2 gaming machines were available for use in Great Britain. This included machines that offered B2 and B3 content. The figure, however, cannot be broken down into local authority areas.

Public Libraries

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will consider adopting the Scottish Public Library Quality Improvement Matrix for libraries in England.

Edward Vaizey: Public Library Service Standards in England were withdrawn by the previous Administration in a move towards increased local autonomy. Local authorities remain best placed to determine how to provide a library service to their local community and the Government is not considering adopting the Scottish Public Library Quality Improvement Matrix for libraries in England.

Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with (a) utility providers, (b) banks and building societies and (c) other companies about (i) providing and (ii) advertising to their customers a contact telephone number that is a UK landline number beginning 01, 02 or 03.

Edward Vaizey: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, has had no discussions on this issue with utility providers, banks and building societies and other companies, as telephone numbering is an operational issue for the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Organisations operate in a competitive commercial market and therefore have the freedom to use contact telephone numbers, which meets both their needs and those of customers. However, under General Condition 14, Ofcom requires communications providers to publish transparent pricing information for non-geographic calls (these are non-local numbers such as 0845 and 0871) and such information should also be included in their advertising and promotional material. Also, providers must ensure that these charges are given the same prominence as other call charge information. Ofcom recognises that the current system around non-geographic numbers is unclear for consumers, with confusion around call pricing in particular. Therefore, Ofcom is proposing to make changes to simplify non-geographic numbers. The main proposals are as follows and more detailed information will be made available by Ofcom in due course:
	Freephone, 080 and 116 numbers, to be free from all telephones, landline and mobile.
	Revenue sharing ranges, 084,087,09 and 118 numbers, where a portion of the retail charge is passed back to the receiver of the call, are to have a common simplified structure.

Theatre: Young People

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what measures she has put in place to ensure that children and young people are able to attend the theatre; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: Responsibility for increasing the accessibility of the arts in England lies with Arts Council England (ACE). In 2011-12 ACE provided £98,497,097 of funding to regularly funded organisations who identified their art form as theatre. In 2011-12 ACE also awarded £17,085,761 in grants for the arts to organisations and projects identified as theatre. In 2010-11, the last year that figures are available, regularly funded theatres that responded to ACE's survey reported that they provided 6,637 performances for schools, with 765,000 school children attending with a ticket and an estimated 90,000 more attending on a more informal basis.
	In the hon. Member's area, the Dukes theatre in Lancaster has an extensive creative learning department, including a separate dedicated venue and activity space for young people. The theatre offers a variety of participatory theatre programmes for young people, which includes 12 youth theatres, one of which is based at the Hot House in Morecambe. In 2011-12 Dukes delivered over 150 separate engagement projects for young people in community and school settings which resulted in over 19,000 participations in individual sessions.
	This Government has made clear its commitment to cultural education, including theatre, through commissioning the Henley Review of Cultural Education, and in its response to the review. These publications can be found on the following page of the Department's website:
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/publications/8875.aspx

Beef

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the EU Commission regarding what tests can be carried out by the EU Food and Veterinary Office on processed and frozen beef in EU member states; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: In his written ministerial statement of 14 February 2013, Official Report, column 60WS, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), updated the House on discussions held on 13 February with agriculture Ministers from a number of other member states together with the Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner in Brussels. In this statement he reported that we reached agreement on a number of key issues in order to ensure that the current unacceptable situation with horsemeat cannot happen again.
	In a further statement of 27 February 2013, Official Report, column 27WS, the Secretary of State updated the House on further discussions at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. At this meeting member states endorsed EU-wide action to address the issue through the testing programme and the rapid sharing of information on any illegal activity.

Beef: Horse Meat

Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the tests for horsemeat being conducted by retailers, how many product lines members of the British Meat Processors Association will test; and whether he expects tests being conducted by retailers to be completed by 15 February 2013.

David Heath: In his written ministerial statement of 4 March 2013, Official Report, column 54WS, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), set out the number of tests that have been completed across the food supply chain. A total of 5,430 test results of the most vulnerable processed beef products had been reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) by 1 March. This figure represents 95% of affected retail lines and 90% of caterer and wholesaler product lines. The tests continue to show that over 99% of processed beef products contain those ingredients which are stated on the label.
	Members of the British Meat Processors Association (BPMA) are of course included in this programme, as well as in the sampling being carried out by the FSA. We do not have an exact number of how many product lines BMPA members will be testing but they have received the same request as industry.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the statement of 23 October 2012, Official Report, columns 835-6, on bovine tuberculosis and badger control, and the Statement of 27 February 2013, Official Report, column 28WS, on bovine tuberculosis, for what reasons the badger population estimates in the two pilot cull areas published on 23 October 2012 are higher than the estimates published on 27 February 2013.

David Heath: Both sets of estimates, each of which is expressed as a range, were calculated by estimating the number of active badger setts in the area and multiplying this by the estimated average number of badgers per active sett.
	For the purpose of the October 2012 badger population estimates, the average number of badgers per active sett was estimated from the results of two studies conducted over several years in the Gloucestershire area. This was the best information available at the time.
	The availability of new data has allowed new badger population estimates to be calculated. This new data included information on the estimated number of badgers per active sett collected in each of the pilot areas using DNA analysis.
	The February 2013 badger population estimates are the best information currently available on badger population size in the pilot areas and should be used in preference to the October 2012 estimates.

Horse Passports

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the UK horse passport regime and its contribution to preventing veterinary medicine entering the human food chain; and what plans he has for the future of the regime.

David Heath: Passports may be endorsed to exclude a horse from slaughter. This must be done by veterinary surgeons when certain veterinary medicines, including Phenylbutazone, are administered. The declaration is irreversible. The Chief Veterinary Officer and the Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency wrote to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons on 4 February 2013 seeking their assistance in reminding vets of their legal obligations under the Horse Passports Regulations 2009.
	The Government remains committed to exploring ways to improve the horse passport system within the framework of European legislation. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), and my noble Friend Lord de Mauley met representatives of various equine sectors on 21 February to discuss such issues.

Job Creation

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills regarding the need to sustain and create new jobs in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: I have regularly discussed the need to create new private sector jobs and boost the Northern Ireland economy with a range of ministerial colleagues, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne) and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable). I will be having further discussions with them as part of the Government's work with the devolved Administration to rebalance the Northern Ireland economy.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was paid to officials in (a) her Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies in bonuses and other payments in addition to salary in each of the last five years; how many officials received such payments; and what the monetary value was of the 20 largest payments made in each year.

Michael Penning: Comparable figures for my Department as it is now configured are not available following the completion of the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010.
	During 2010-11, my Department paid a total of £35,830 to 47 officials; the value of the 20 largest were: £7,500 x 2, £1,200 x 6, £750 x 4 and £500 x 8;
	In 2011-12, my Department paid £33,175 to 75 officials: the value of the 20 largest were: £1,300 x 8, £1,200 x 5 and £500 x 7;
	In 2012-13 to date, £21,400 has been paid to 70 officials; the value of the 20 largest were £500 each.
	My Department has two non-departmental public bodies—the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland; and one advisory non-departmental public body—the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. As such bodies are independent of Government, my hon. Friend may wish to write to the Commissions direct on these matters.
	
		
			 ALB Status Contact details 
			 Parades Commission for Northern Ireland Executive NDPB Info@paradescommission.org 
			 Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Executive NDPB information@nihrc.org 
			 Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland Advisory NDPB bcni@belfast.org.uk

Terrorism

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment she has made of activities of (a) loyalist and (b) republican paramilitary groups.

Michael Penning: I would refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers), made on 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 35WS.

Sovereignty

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from the Scottish Government regarding (a) passports and (b) dual citizenship with the UK in the event of an independent Scotland.

David Mundell: The Secretary of State for Scotland, the right hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Michael Moore), has received no representations from the Scottish Government regarding passports or dual citizenship with the UK in the event of an independent Scotland.

Budget March 2013

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the likely effect on Wales of measures planned to be announced in Budget 2013.

Stephen Crabb: The Secretary of State for Wales, my right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West (Mr Jones), has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer outlining Welsh priorities for Budget 2013 including proposals from the Wales Office Business Advisory Group.

Domestic Visits

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many official engagements have been undertaken in Wales by each of the Under Secretaries of State for Wales since taking up their posts.

Stephen Crabb: Since our appointments, my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, Baroness Randerson, has undertaken 43 official engagements in Wales, and I have undertaken 24. We both of course also undertake numerous engagements in London to press the interests of Wales.

National Assembly for Wales

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals relating to the proposals included in the Green Paper on future electoral arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales.

Stephen Crabb: The Secretary of State for Wales, my right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West (Mr Jones), announced on 12 March 2013, Official Report, columns 8-9WS, that the Government will take forward three proposals included in the Green Paper on future electoral arrangements tor the National Assembly for Wales. The Government will bring forward legislation to effect these changes at the earliest opportunity.

Severn River Crossing

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the operation of the Severn bridges when the concession ends; and what level of tolling is appropriate at that stage.

Stephen Crabb: The Secretary of State for Wales, my right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West (Mr Jones), has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), on transport matters which affect Wales. No decisions have yet been made on the future of the two crossings after the forecast end of the current concession with Severn River Crossings plc in 2018. However, the Government has been clear that it will need to continue to toll after the current concession ends in order to recover costs incurred by UK taxpayers in relation to the crossings.

Communications Data Bill (Draft)

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she has taken to consult (a) the Scottish Government, (b) Scottish local authorities, (c) the Police Service of Scotland and (d) the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency on the revised draft Communications Data Bill.

James Brokenshire: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a variety of organisations and individuals, as part of the process of developing the revised Communications Data Bill. Although Communications Data is a reserved matter, this has included meetings with key groups in Scotland that will be affected by the Bill. Details of ministerial consultation are published on the Cabinet Office website on a quarterly basis.

Racially Aggravated Offences

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers on issuing guidance to chief constables in respect of dealing with racist incidents.

Jeremy Browne: The Government is committed to tackling all forms of hate crime and works closely with the Association of Chief Police Officers and other partners. The Association of Chief Police Officers issued guidance for dealing with hate crimes to police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2005. The guidance is currently being updated and new guidance will be sent out to all police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland shortly.

Sussex Police

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with Sussex police on improving crime detection rates.

Jeremy Browne: This Government has scrapped all national policing targets in order that police forces can focus on cutting crime and achieving the best outcomes for victims and the wider community. For this reason, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has had no recent discussions with Sussex police on the issue of improving the crime detection rates.

Foreign Companies

David Blunkett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information his Department holds on the number of overseas-based companies who have received more than £200 million in central government contracts in the last two years; and how much corporation tax those corporations have paid to the UK Exchequer.

David Gauke: HM Treasury does not hold a central record of the contracts that have been let by central Government Departments. Information about the amount of corporation tax paid by individual companies is held by HM Revenue and Customs, and is not disclosed due to taxpayer confidentiality.

Sick Leave

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many days (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies has lost to staff sickness in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such absence in each year;
	(2)  how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies have had (i) fewer than five days, (ii) five to 10 days, (iii) 10 to 15 days, (iv) 15 to 20 days, (v) 20 to 25 days, (vi) 25 to 50 days, (vii) 50 to 75 days, (viii) 75 to 100 days, (ix) 100 to 150 days, (x) 150 to 200 days, (xi) more than 200 days, (xii) more than three months, (xiii) more than six months and (xiv) more than one year on paid sick leave (A) consecutively and (B) in total in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: The number of days lost to sickness absence in each of the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			 HM Treasury 
			 As at 1 April to 31 March each year Working days lost 
			 2007-08 5,507 
			 2008-09 4,187 
			 2009-10 4,771 
			 2010-11 4,554 
			 2011-12 4,653 
		
	
	
		
			 Debt Management Office 
			 As at 1 April to 31 March each year Working days lost 
			 2007-08 310 
			 2008-09 278 
			 2009-10 447 
			 2010-11 373 
			 2011-12 480 
		
	
	We do not currently make an estimate of the cost of sick absence to the Department.
	You also asked for a breakdown of sick absence into 14 different categories. However the information requested is not held centrally in this form and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
	HM Treasury is firmly committed to the well-being of its staff and we keep under review various techniques and practices which support this commitment. Employees have access to a range of well-being services, which are provided on site at full cost to the employee. In addition, guidance is available for staff, for example on managing stress in the workplace, and support is available through an Occupational Health service and an Employee Assistance Programme.

Emergencies

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office who holds (a) regional and (b) national responsibility for civil contingency.

Chloe Smith: The 2004 Civil Contingencies Act sets out a single framework for civil protection in the UK. Part 1 of the Act defines the local arrangements for civil protection and establishes a clear set of roles and responsibilities for organisations at the core of the response to most emergencies.
	The Civil Contingencies Secretariat within Cabinet Office is responsible for co-ordinating work across Government to improve the UK's ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies as set out within the Act. The Resilience and Emergencies Division within the Department for Communities and Local Government is responsible for co-ordinating resilience at the sub-national level.

Leave

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies qualify for privilege days; and what the total cost to the public purse was of the number of privilege days utilised each year by such officials.

Francis Maude: At present, as was the situation under previous Administrations, Cabinet Office staff qualify for 2.5 days privilege leave per year in addition to their annual leave entitlement. One of these days is granted under the authority of the Queen.
	In the Civil Service Reform Plan, the Government announced its intention to modernise civil service terms and conditions, and to address those which are outliers relative to best practice in the private and wider public sector.
	Privilege leave represents a total cost to the public purse of 0.96% of the Department's overall paybill.

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Michael Ellis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many members of quasi-autonomous, non-governmental bodies are paid more than the Prime Minister.

Francis Maude: Since the general election, all appointments made by Ministers to public bodies which have a salary of over £142,500 require approval from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. This threshold is applied on a pro rata basis.
	Information on the remuneration of chairs of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), for the financial year 2011-12, can be found in public bodies 2012. This publication is available at:
	http://resources.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/PB12.pdf
	Copies are also available in the Libraries of the House.
	In addition to this the Government published information in 2010 identifying NDPB staff who earn more than £150,000. This information is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/quango-high-earners-revealed-by-the-cabinet-office

Public Sector: Databases

David Lammy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will produce statutory guidance to all public services on data sharing and the use of data sharing in detecting the early warning signs of criminal behaviour or child protection concerns.

Helen Grant: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
	The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) published a statutory code of practice on data sharing under s52 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) in May 2011. The code explains how the DPA applies to the sharing of personal data and provides good practice advice to organisations that can be adapted to the particular circumstances in which they are operating, including those organisations involved in child protection. The code of practice can be found at:
	http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/topic_guides/data_sharing.aspx
	The Government will be publishing revised statutory safeguarding guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children, which makes clear the information sharing responsibilities of organisations and professionals dealing with child safeguarding or child protection concerns.
	In addition, the cross Government publication, Information Sharing: Guidance for practitioners and managers, supports front-line practitioners working in child or adult services who have to make decisions about sharing information on a case by case basis.

Sick Leave

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many days (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies has lost to staff sickness in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such absence in each year;
	(2)  how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies have had (i) fewer than five days, (ii) five to 10 days, (iii) 10 to 15 days, (iv) 15 to 20 days, (v) 20 to 25 days, (vi) 25 to 50 days, (vii) 50 to 75 days, (viii) 75 to 100 days, (ix) 100 to 150 days, (x) 150 to 200 days, (xi) more than 200 days, (xii) more than three months, (xiii) more than six months and (xiv) more than one year on paid sick leave (A) consecutively and (B) in total in each of the last five years.

Francis Maude: Information about sickness absence in the Cabinet Office and its agencies is published on the Cabinet Office website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-absence-data
	The most recent published figures on the civil service:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/improving/health-and-wellbeing/sickness-absence
	show that for the year to 30 September 2012, the Cabinet Office has one of the lowest civil service sickness rates at 2.8 (average working days lost) when compared to the current civil service average of 7.6.

Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many Government operated telephone numbers begin 08; and for how many such numbers a UK landline number beginning 01, 02 or 03 is also available as an alternative.

Nick Hurd: This information is not held centrally. Departments determine their own use of telephone numbers.

Voluntary Work

Michael Ellis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of trends in volunteering in 2012; and what steps he is taking to increase levels of volunteering.

Nick Hurd: Official Statistics published for the first time by the Cabinet Office on 12 February 2013 (from quarter 2 of the community life survey 2012-13)
	http://communitylife.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/
	show that the proportion of people volunteering at least once a year now stands at 71%, an increase from 65% in 2010-11, with an even bigger increase in the proportion of people volunteering regularly. This equates to millions more people volunteering across the country, showing that the cultural change is not limited to the 120,000 who volunteered to make the 2012 games a success. Significantly, this reverses the steady decline in volunteering seen since 2005.
	The Government is also taking a range of steps to increase levels of volunteering. For example, in February 2013 we announced the creation of the Centre for Social Action which aims to identify and accelerate the development and spread of social action initiatives including volunteering.
	We are also creating new ways for people to volunteer. For example, through the “Dementia Friends” campaign we are mobilising 1 million volunteers to help communities become more dementia friendly. In addition, through “Join in” people are being inspired by 2012 to be more involved in sporting and community events.

Middle East

Duncan Hames: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the total value of aid given by the Government to (a) Israel and (b) the Occupied Palestinian Territories was in each of the last three years.

Alan Duncan: The UK Government does not have a bilateral aid programme with Israel.
	The total value of aid given by the UK Government to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) in each of the last three years was as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2009-10 62, 603,000 
			 2010-11 51,786,000 
			 2011-12 56,421,000 
		
	
	In addition, we have given the following support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides support to Palestinian refugees in the region including the OPTs, in each of the last three years:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2009-10 24,930,000 
			 2010-11 27,000,000 
			 2011-12 38,014,000

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was paid to officials in (a) her Department and (b) its non-departmental public body in bonuses and other payments in addition to salary in each of the last five years; how many officials received such payments; and what the monetary value was of the 20 largest payments made in each year.

Alan Duncan: The following table shows for each of the last five financial years: the amount paid in non-consolidated performance awards; the categories of payments made in addition to base salary and the monetary value of each; and the number of officials who received such payments. The figures provided do not include payments to cover the reimbursement of business expenses nor the reimbursement of education fees.
	DFID has two non-departmental public bodies: The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission which does not employ staff and therefore has not made any such payments; and the Independent Commission for Aid Impact for which details have been withheld because the numbers of staff employed are five or fewer.
	
		
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Payment description Total (£) Number Total (£) Number Total (£) Number Total (£) Number Total (£) Number 
			 Performance Related Pay 1,334,953 1,648 670,978 79 1,426,279 1,443 1,258,519 1,613 1,102,327 1,514 
			 Overseas Cost of Living Allowance 2,160,074 785 3,055,481 802 3,748,731 801 3,265,074 807 3,400,706 863 
			 Overseas Hardship Allowance 3,117,035 788 3,485,680 800 3,624,147 797 3,593,182 800 3,515,859 858 
			 Overseas Relocation Allowances 551,788 279 555,462 275 528,589 244 585,464 241 806,184 300 
			 Representation Allowances 261,238 353 242,583 340 199,253 309 168,614 292 175,989 263 
			 Overseas Maintenance Allowance 58,088 139 59,184 126 43,144 90 25,367 52 10,327 29 
			 Market Allowances 358,421 210 322,108 168 322,343 171 311,555 164 305,749 154 
			 Foreign Language Allow 1,223 (1)<5 910 (1)<5 858 (1)<5 858 (1)<5 858 (1)<5 
			 On Call Allowance 57,784 47 74,090 76 76,038 69 61,506 55 68,336 66 
			 Inner London Dispersal 228 (1)<5 228 (1)<5 228 (1)<5 228 (1)<5 0 0 
			 Hazardous Locations Allowance 78,930 48 83,774 43 98,504 67 107,222 71 93,655 71 
			 Fire warden and Evacuation Pay 5,000 97 4,400 88 4,050 61 4,500 89 4,650 92 
			 (1) Data withheld where number of recipients is 5 or less. 
		
	
	The following table provides details of the 20 largest payments made in each of the last five financial years. These relate primarily to extraordinary circumstances in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Ranking 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 1 33,283 33,615 42,134 39,864 38,792 
			 2 33,283 33,615 41,185 39,864 37,176 
			 3 33,283 33,615 41,086 36,964 33,606 
			 4 33,283 32,614 39,276 30,207 29,094 
			 5 30,494 32,236 36,421 27,723 28,178 
			 6 30,494 28,123 36,421 27,723 25,113 
			 7 30,367 27,575 36,421 27,723 21,744 
			 8 29,710 25,849 36,421 27,475 21,349 
			 9 27,543 25,565 36,421 27,209 21,349 
			 10 23,176 25,342 36,421 26,576 21,349 
			 11 20,195 24,451 36,421 24,946 21,349 
			 12 20,191 23,656 36,421 23,164 21,349 
			 13 20,187 23,430 36,421 22,556 21,104 
			 14 17,167 23,409 36,421 21,879 20,511 
			 15 17,167 22,700 35,515 21,879 20,459 
			 16 17,167 22,517 34,128 21,382 20,128 
			 17 17,167 21,859 33,401 21,357 19,813 
			 18 17,167 21,558 31,730 20,407 19,558 
			 19 16,993 21,423 30,106 20,407 19,396 
			 20 16,993 20,685 29,847 20,407 19,396 
			 Note: The 20 largest payments in each year were for Overseas Hardship/Cost of Living.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what allowances and subsidies in addition to salary were available to officials in (a) her Department and (b) its non-departmental public body in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value was of such payments and allowances in each such year.

Alan Duncan: The following table shows for each of the last five financial years the categories of allowances available to officials in addition to base salary. It also shows the total amount paid to officials for each allowance in each of the last five financial years.
	
		
			 Total (£) 
			 Allowance description 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Overseas Cost of Living Allowance 2,160,074 3,055,481 3,748,731 3,265,074 3,400,706 
			 Overseas Hardship Allowance 3,117,035 3,485,680 3,624,147 3,593,182 3,515,859 
			 Overseas Relocation Allowances 551,788 555,462 528,589 585,464 806,184 
			 Representation Allowances 261,238 242,583 199,253 168,614 175,989 
			 Overseas Maintenance Allowance 58,088 59,184 43,144 25,367 10,327 
			 Market Allowances 358,421 322,108 322,343 311,555 305,749 
			 Foreign Language Allow 1,223 910 858 858 858 
			 On Call Allowance 57,784 74,090 76,038 61,506 68,336 
			 Inner London Dispersal 228 228 228 228 0 
			 Hazardous Locations Allowance 78,930 83,774 98,504 107,222 93,655 
			 Fire warden and Evacuation Pay 5,000 4,400 4,050 4,500 4,650 
		
	
	DFID has two non-departmental public bodies: The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission which does not employ staff and therefore has not made any such payments; and the Independent Commission for Aid impact for which details have been withheld because the number of staff employed is five or fewer.

Procurement

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will take steps to ensure companies receiving support from her Department under her new strategy on economic growth have to demonstrate decent employment practices throughout their supply chain and acceptable levels of pay to workers in developing countries.

Justine Greening: As I indicated in my speech to the London Stock Exchange on 11 March 2013;
	“I want to see far more businesses joining the development push with DFID”.
	Our joint work with the Confederation of British Industry and other stakeholders will aim to ensure that this takes place responsibly.

Sick Leave

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) its non-departmental public body have had (i) fewer than five days, (ii) five to 10 days, (iii) 10 to 15 days, (iv) 15 to 20 days, (v) 20 to 25 days, (vi) 25 to 50 days, (vii) 50 to 75 days, (viii) 75 to 100 days, (ix) 100 to 150 days, (x) 150 to 200 days, (xi) more than 200 days, (xii) more than three months, (xiii) more than six months and (xiv) more than one year on paid sick leave (A) consecutively and (B) in total in each of the last five years.

Alan Duncan: DFID does not gather information on the length of sickness absence by the increments listed. To research this data and produce figures for each of the time frames requested could be done only at disproportionate cost.
	However, details of the total number of days lost to short-term (absences of 20 working days or less), long-term (absences of 21 working days or more), and overall days lost to sickness absence by our senior civil servants, during each of the last five years, are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 DFID SCS sickness absences during 2008 to 2012 
			  Days lost to short-term sickness absence Number of SCS absent Days lost to long-term sickness absence Number of SCS absent Total days lost to sickness absence by SCS staff Number of SCS absent 
			 2008 109 12 26 1 135 14 
			 2009 47 12 143 3 190 15 
			 2010 29 10 0 0 29 10 
			 2011 42 13 0 0 42 13 
			 2012 59 13 0 0 59 13 
		
	
	Our policy on sick pay is to reduce pay to half pay after six months of sickness absence, then to zero pay after 12 months of sickness absence.
	DFID has two non-departmental public bodies, i.e. Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and the Independent Commission for Aid Impact. There is no recorded sickness absence for either of these during the last five years.

Afghanistan

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the his contribution of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 864, what plans the Government has to ensure the safety of locally-employed civilians after the withdrawal of UK troops from Afghanistan; and in what way provisions for the safety of locally-employed Afghan interpreters may differ from the provisions afforded to locally-employed Iraqi interpreters.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 14 March 2013
	We continue to recognise our clear commitment to treat locally engaged staff fairly and appropriately, and to take all reasonable steps to ensure their safety and security.
	We are looking at how we are going to make appropriate provision to support locally employed civilians as we draw down our combat mission in Afghanistan. Until this review is concluded, I am unable to comment on any differences between the policies for Afghanistan and Iraq.

Armed Forces: Donors

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps each of the armed forces takes to promote to servicemen and women the process of registration as a blood, organ or bone marrow donor.

Mark Francois: Each of the armed forces single services regularly liaise with local NHS trusts to promote donor initiatives such as NHS run blood donor sessions facilitated at Ministry of Defence establishments.
	Donations such as blood, organ or bone marrow is a decision for individual service personnel and registration of such is confidential between the individual and the NHS.

Military Police

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on the Ministry of Defence police in each financial year since 2005; and how much is planned to be spent in each year to 2015.

Mark Francois: holding answer 12 March 2013
	The following table shows how much has been spent on the Ministry of Defence police (MDP) in each financial year (FY) since 2005 to date:
	
		
			 FY MDP spend (£ million) 
			 2005-06 173.689 
			 2006-07 174.679 
			 2007-08 171.554 
			 2008-09 183.148 
			 2009-10 182.518 
			 2010-11 172.931 
			 2011-12 163.297 
			 2012-13 (1)144.723 
			 (1 )This figure is subject to achievement of outstanding expenditure commitments before the end of the financial year. 
		
	
	Planned figures are subject to agreement as part of the Ministry of Defence's ongoing departmental financial planning round and therefore cannot be released at this time.

Veterans: Training

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to support those social enterprises and charities that work to retrain ex-military personnel; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: The Government is committed to working in partnership with the ex-service social and charitable sectors to deliver a high level of support where needed. The Ministry of Defence welcomes all offers of support to our service leavers, including the provision of retraining. The MOD has an authorised list of training providers which is administered through the Career Transition Partnership. This is known as the Preferred Suppliers List and we welcome applications through the CTP website which can be found at:
	www.ctp.org.uk

Wind Power

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  on how many occasions his Department has intervened in planning decisions on the installation of wind turbines in each of the last five years;
	(2)  for what reasons his Department has intervened in planning decisions on the installation of wind turbines in each of the last five years.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is only a consultee in the planning application process and has no control over the number of planning application consultations it receives from planning authorities. The planning authority has the opportunity to consider and test representations made by the applicants as well as interested parties, including the MOD, before reaching their final decision. It is for the planning authority to decide which applications should proceed and how to strike the balance between national Defence and energy considerations. The MOD will, when requested to do so by the local planning authority, provide further information in support of its consultation response.
	Wind turbines can adversely affect a number of MOD operations including radars, seismological recording equipment, communications facilities, naval operations and low flying. It is for this reason that every wind turbine application is assessed on a case by case basis and on its own merits.

ICT: Teachers

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what funding his Department has allocated to train teachers to the level where they can adequately teach the new ICT curriculum.

David Laws: holding answer 11 March 2013
	According to the latest data available there are 18,600 teachers currently teaching ICT. In addition, the Department, through the Teaching Agency, has allocated funding to train new teachers to deliver the computing curriculum from 2014. This funding is made up of training bursaries, which range from £4,000 to £9,000 depending on the degree classification of the trainee, subject knowledge enhancement courses, which range from £800 to £8,600 per place depending on the length of course, and salary grants of between £14,000 and £17,600 for trainees undertaking the new School Direct (Salaried) route. In addition, a small number of scholarships are available through BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, which are worth £20,000 each.

ICT: Teachers

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department plans to take in the next 12 months to ensure that there are enough teachers qualified to teach the ICT curriculum.

David Laws: holding answer 11 March 2013
	New computer science postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) programmes will deliver suitably trained teachers into the workforce in 2014. These programmes are supported by pre-ITT subject knowledge enhancement courses designed in conjunction with industry specialists. The Department is also supporting existing ICT teachers to deliver the new curriculum through the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science established by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.

Primary Education: Admissions

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many parents of prematurely-born children have been allowed to delay or defer their child's entry to primary school in each of the last five years.

David Laws: holding answer 4 March 2013
	The Department does not collect data on how many parents of prematurely born children have been allowed to delay or defer their child's entry to primary school.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent assessment he has made of the use of the pupil premium in Swindon.

David Laws: The Government is determined that the pupil premium is used by schools to close attainment gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. Nationally, the Government has made a significant investment in disadvantaged children through the pupil premium, which is currently £1.25 billion and will rise to £1.875 billion in 2013-14. The rate of pupil premium will be £900 for each disadvantaged child in 2013-14, and in 2014-15 our overall investment rises to £2.5 billion.
	In 2011-12, 4,520 pupils attending schools in Swindon were eligible for the pupil or service premium, attracting £2.165 million. In 2012-13, we extended eligibility for the pupil premium, so that 7,040 pupils in Swindon attracted £4.038 million of additional funding for schools. Using 2012 pupil figures indicate that schools in Swindon will attract over £6 million in 2013-14.
	The Government believes that school leaders should decide how to use the pupil premium, in order to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. Schools have the lead responsibility in assessing and accounting for their use of the premium, but we have also taken steps to hold them to account—both locally and nationally—for this significant extra investment by central Government.
	In addition to information now being available to parents and their communities about the educational attainment of pupils entitled to free school meals in the published performance tables, schools receiving the pupil premium are required to publish an annual statement online which includes: the school's pupil premium funding for the current academic year; their plans for spending the premium; the funding allocation for the previous academic year and details of how it was spent; and the effect of this expenditure on the educational attainment of the school's premium pupils. Together, these steps enable Swindon schools to be held to account by their communities.
	We have also commissioned both an external evaluation of the premium's first year, which we shall be publishing shortly, and a study by Ofsted of how effectively schools are using their pupil premium funding. Ofsted published their interim study findings in September 2012 and their final report on 11 February 2013. The report focuses on schools that are able to tell inspectors how their funding is being spent and can demonstrate its impact. The Government welcomed this report.
	Ofsted now have an increased focus on the performance of pupils who attract the premium, and on how it is used to remove barriers to learning for premium pupils. Since September 2012, as part of routine school inspection, Ofsted have been holding school leaders to account for how schools have spent their pupil premium and what difference this is making to the learning and progress of the pupils concerned. Their judgments on schools' leadership will consider the use of both the premium and other resources to overcome barriers to achievement for their pupils. In his annual report published in November, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector committed Ofsted to paying particular attention to attainment gaps affecting disadvantaged pupils in schools where they form a minority of less than 20% of all pupils.
	Where schools are judged by Ofsted to be using their pupil premium ineffectively it is important that swift action is taken to improve provision for disadvantaged pupils. For this reason, I have announced a new policy approach. This is designed to address the ineffective use of the pupil premium by schools that are neither good nor outstanding, and where pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds in that school are doing particularly poorly. In these circumstances, schools will be required to work with a school system leader—an outstanding leader from another school with a track record of narrowing attainment gaps—to draw up new strategies for spending their pupil premium based on evidence of what works and established best practice. Ofsted will then take account of the school's new strategy and adherence to it when monitoring progress and re-inspecting the school. Schools that are judged to ‘require improvement’ and that do not demonstrate improvement risk being judged ‘inadequate’. I believe this new approach will focus school leaders' minds on the important task of accelerating the progress of disadvantaged pupils.
	Taken together, the steps that we and Ofsted are taking will ensure a strong body of evidence for Swindon's parents and local community to assess how local schools are using the pupil premium.

Schools: Croydon

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much money for capital expenditure has been made available for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in the London borough of Croydon in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and what proportion of such funding has been spent in each year.

David Laws: holding answer 5 March 2013
	The Department for Education announces a single allocation for both maintenance and basic need funding. We do not split this funding between primary and secondary provision, it is for local authorities to decide how this funding is then used locally. These capital grants are unringfenced and the Department has not, to date, collected information on how this funding has been spent. They breakdown as follows:
	
		
			 (£ millions) 
			  Basic need Maintenance Total 
			 2010-11 13.8 5.8 19.6 
			 2011-12 13.3 8.2 21.5 
			 2012-13 18.7 6.8 25.5 
			 2013-14 maintenance and 2013-15 basic need 63.2 5.5 68.7

Leave

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies qualify for privilege days; and what the total cost to the public purse was of the number of privilege days utilised each year by such officials.

Norman Baker: The number of officials as at the 31 January 2013 in (a) the Department for Transport and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies who qualify for privilege days is set out in the table below:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Department for Transport (Centre) 1,761 
			 Driving Standards Agency 2,460 
			 Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency 6,357 
			 Highways Agency 3,352 
			 Maritime & Coastguard Agency 1,096 
			 Vehicle Certification Agency 157 
			 Vehicle & Operator Services Agency 2,255 
			 Northern Lighthouse Board 207 
			 Trinity House 197 
		
	
	Staff in the department's other non-departmental public bodies do not qualify.
	A calculation of the total cost to the public purse of the privilege days utilised each year by the Department's staff and those in its agencies and non-departmental public bodies could only be made at disproportionate cost.

Roads: East Sussex

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what the most recent cost-benefit analysis is of the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road;
	(2)  how many jobs he estimates will be created by the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the potential for increased traffic congestion as a result of the new Bexhill-Hastings Link Road;
	(4)  what his Department's most recent value for money estimate is of the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road;
	(5)  whether the value for money estimate for the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road is dependent on the economic merit of the potential development and regeneration of the surrounding area of north east Bexhill.

Norman Baker: The Department is currently assessing the final funding application from East Sussex county council, submitted in December 2012, and this work is not yet complete.
	In March 2012 the Department published its detailed assessment of the Council's "best and final" bid application for Programme Entry status (provisional funding approval). This included an assessment of the cost benefit analysis and value for money of the scheme; number of jobs created; and the potential impact of the scheme on traffic congestion.
	The assessment is available on the Department's website at the following link:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121025123854/http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/local-authority-major-transport-schemes/bexhill-hastings-assessment.pdf

West Coast Railway line

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations his Department has received on the Blackpool to London West Coast Mainline train stopping at Kirkham; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The Secretary of State for Transport announced to the House on 6 December 2012 that he wanted to see improvements to Intercity West Coast services, including the introduction of new services from London to Blackpool North, this service would call at Kirkham and Wesham. This announcement was welcomed. A letter of support was received in December 2012 for the proposed introduction of the London Euston to Blackpool North service from the member for Lancaster and Fleetwood.

Afghanistan

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support his Department is giving to the Afghan Government to develop and appropriately staff family response units.

Alistair Burt: The UK supports the development of the Afghan National Police through EUPOL, the European Police Mission. Improving the capability of the Afghan police is fundamental to the success of the international coalition's mission and EUPOL plays a central role in that work.
	On 11 March this year, EUPOL signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Afghan Ministry of the Interior and UNDP on enhancing the capacity of the family response units, which play an important role in investigating cases of domestic violence. The MOU will form the basis of a new training package for female police officers, prosecutors and members of the legal community. The initial training programme is due to take place between March and May this year.
	Additionally, our £7.1 million assistance to the Ministry of Interior includes a strong focus on developing Afghan policy on promoting human rights in the security sector and protecting women from violence. We provide significant funding to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission to ensure it can act to protect women human rights defenders, investigate and catalogue violence against women, and support those seeking justice.

Afghanistan

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to support the Afghan Government to implement a law on the elimination of violence against women.

Alistair Burt: Tackling violence against women is fundamental to upholding basic human rights and to support women playing a full part in the development of a stable and secure Afghanistan and the UK and we regularly raise this issue with the Government of Afghanistan. For example, during her visit to Afghanistan earlier this month the Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi discussed women's rights with the Afghan Foreign Minister Rassoul, leading female parliamentarians and other government and civil society representatives.
	Implementation of the Afghan Elimination of Violence Against Women Law (EVAW) was specifically included in the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework (TMAF), the partnership between the Afghan Government and the international community. We, along with our international partners, will hold the Afghan Government to account for the commitments they have made. In Kabul, the Gender Donor Coordination Group (led by UN Women) and the Civil Society Support Group (led by UNAMA) are currently considering how the TMAF recommendations should be taken forward. The UK is represented on both groups.
	We also encourage the Afghan Government to monitor the use of the EVAW law by police and prosecutors across the country to ensure it is used in all applicable cases. Our £7.1 million assistance to the Ministry of Interior includes a strong focus on developing Afghan policy on promoting human rights in the security sector and protecting women from violence. We provide significant funding to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission to ensure it can act to protect women human rights defenders, investigate and catalogue violence against women, and support those seeking justice.
	Through the Tawanmandi project the UK provides grants for Afghan women's organisations to advocate for full implementation of EVAW law among judges, prosecutors and police; to provide support for victims of violence; and we to engage with the Government of Afghanistan and holding it to account. UK funding for this project will continue into 2016.

Afghanistan

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has to prioritise women's rights and violence against women in its operations in Afghanistan.

Alistair Burt: Human rights, including women's rights, are essential to and indivisible from the UK's foreign policy priorities. Tackling violence and discrimination against women is an important part of our work in Afghanistan and is fundamental to upholding basic human rights and to supporting the role of women in securing a stable and prosperous future Afghanistan. We regularly raise this issue with the Government of Afghanistan and wider Afghan authorities and will continue to do so. For example, during her visit to Helmand and Kabul earlier this month the Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi discussed the vital role of women in Afghanistan with the Foreign Minister Rassoul, leading female parliamentarians and other government and civil society representatives.
	We will continue to work closely with the Government of Afghanistan and wider Afghan authorities, international partners and local and international civil society organisations to improve the status of women in Afghanistan, so that they can play a full role in a future, peaceful Afghanistan.

Anti-Semitism

Michael Ellis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of trends in the level of anti-Semitism across the world.

David Lidington: We strongly condemn anti-Semitism anywhere that it occurs and our embassies and high commissions around the world monitor manifestations of it. We also promote policies to tackle anti-Semitism through a range of international organisations, and speak out regularly to condemn instances of violence and discrimination, as the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), did when he condemned the horrific murders of Jewish children and a teacher last year in France.
	EU and Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) reports in 2012, on anti-Semitism in the EU and hate crimes respectively, reached no clear conclusions about trends because of the lack of clear-cut data. Nevertheless we have been working through the OSCE and bilaterally to help other countries to collect hate crimes data drawing on the work of the Community Security Trust.

Bangladesh

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Bangladeshi authorities on the continued use of the death penalty in that country.

William Hague: The British Government continues to make clear our strong opposition to the application of the death penalty in all circumstances.
	The Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend, the right hon. Baroness Warsi, raised our absolute opposition to the death penalty in meetings with both the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina and Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Dipu Moni, during her visit to Bangladesh of 18 February.
	We continue to work with EU partners in raising our absolute opposition to the death penalty. The EU ambassador démarched the Foreign Minister, on 6 March, about Bangladesh's use of the death penalty.

Bangladesh

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has sought assurances from the Bangladeshi Government that all possible steps are being taken to avoid further escalation of violence in that country.

William Hague: The British Government is very concerned about the violent protests in Bangladesh. We have called for restraint both publicly and privately with the Bangladesh Government. The Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend, the right hon. Baroness Warsi, issued a statement on 13 March expressing the UK's concerns over violence in Bangladesh and urged all sides to exercise restraint.
	Our high commissioner in Dhaka, Robert Gibson, released a statement on 3 March expressing sadness over the violence and the deaths that have taken place across Bangladesh recently and calling for all parties to exercise restraint, moderation and respect for the rule of law.
	In a meeting with the Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Dipu Moni, he called for the Bangladesh Government to ensure that a transparent investigation into the violence is conducted.
	We will continue to seek assurances from the Bangladeshi Government that all possible steps are being taken.

European Commission

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to make proposals to increase the democratic accountability of European Commissioners to EU citizens.

David Lidington: The Government believes that it is important to increase democratic accountability in the EU in order to ensure that the Commission and the other EU institutions focus on tackling the real challenges faced by people around Europe. A more significant role for national parliaments will be key to addressing the gap between the EU and its citizens.

Falkland Islands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent referendum in the Falkland Islands on the UK's relations with Argentina.

Hugo Swire: This Government fully supports the rights of the Falkland islanders to determine their own future. We have always been clear that the UK would like a full and friendly relationship with Argentina and we firmly believe that there is scope to co-operate with Argentina on a range of issues of mutual interest. We believe that all countries should accept the results of the referendum and support the Falkland islanders as they continue to develop their home and their economy.

Gibraltar

Michael Ellis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of incursions by the Spanish navy into Gibraltar’s territorial waters; and what steps he is taking to protect residents of that territory.

David Lidington: In 2012 the Royal Navy reported a total of 14 unlawful incursions within British Gibraltar Territorial Waters by vessels of the Spanish Navy. In 2013 there have been two such incursions up to 11 March.
	The Royal Navy challenges unlawful incursions by Spanish naval vessels and we also make formal diplomatic protests to the Spanish Government following all such incursions. On 15 November 2012 the Spanish ambassador was summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office because of our serious concerns about incursions, including one by a Spanish naval vessel on 13 November which had lasted several hours. Although unlawful incursions by Spanish state vessels are a violation of UK sovereignty, they are not a threat to it. We continue to assert our sovereignty in response to incursions, using proportionate diplomatic and naval means.

Human Rights

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he (a) has appointed and (b) plans to appoint any parliamentary human rights envoys to countries identified by his Department as countries of concern in connection with their human rights records.

David Lidington: The Government has not appointed, nor does it plan to appoint, parliamentary human rights envoys to countries of concern. But we welcome parliamentary interest in our human rights work internationally, and the engagement of parliamentarians in countries and on issues of concern, including members of the All Parliamentary Party Groups on human rights, abolition of the death penalty, international corporate responsibility, and freedom of religion or belief.

Japan

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases of child abduction in which UK children are taken from their habitual residence by a parent to Japan have been reported to his Department in each of the last three years; if he will meet with his Japanese counterpart to discuss that country's ratification of the 1980 Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of Child Abduction; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: The Child Abduction Section at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds statistics on cases of international parental child abduction brought to its attention and where it has offered consular assistance to British nationals. In line with our obligations under the 1998 Data Protection Act, I am unable to provide an annual breakdown but I can confirm that the total number of child abduction cases to Japan recorded by the section from January 2010 to date is four.
	The Government lobbies countries where there are a significant number of abduction cases, or where we have encountered specific problems, to sign the 1980 Hague convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction. I raised the issue of Japanese ratification of this convention during my visit there in January 2013. I hope that Japan will become a signatory to the convention in the coming months. We also sponsored a visit of experts on international child abduction to Japan, also in January. We will continue to seek appropriate opportunities to raise this important issue with the Japanese authorities.

Maldives

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what representations he is making to ensure that Mohamed Nasheed, the former President of the Maldives, receives a free and fair trial;
	(2)  what reports he has received on the 24-hour detention of Mohamed Nasheed, the former President of the Maldives; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Government understands that former President Nasheed was taken into custody on 5 March at 13:30 local time so that he could be presented at court on 6 March. Officials at our high commission in Colombo have spoken to Maldivian Democratic Party members and to Nasheed's lawyers; we understand that he was not mistreated during his detention. The former President has now been released following the hearing, and his trial has been postponed for four weeks. We look to the Maldivian authorities to ensure that due process is followed, and that proceedings are fair and transparent.
	I made a statement on 6 March following the detention of former President Nasheed expressing our keen interest in developments in Maldives and urging all parties to remain calm and to act responsibly.
	All parties should be able to contest elections with the candidate of their choice. If the chosen candidates of all parties are not permitted to participate in the presidential election, the credibility of the outcome will be irreparably damaged. We hope all involved will work together to find a solution which would allow for genuinely free, fair, and inclusive elections and ensure all are able to campaign without hindrance.

Middle East

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Palestinian Authority to rejoin direct peace talks with Israel without preconditions.

Alistair Burt: This is a point that we have underlined to the Palestinian Authority on a regular basis. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) also discussed these issues with President Abbas in advance of the recent Palestinian resolution at the UN General Assembly on 29 November.
	The British Government is clear that, ultimately, the way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is through direct, credible negotiations between the parties. We continue to call on President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu to show the strong leadership needed to achieve progress towards a two-state solution, which will bring a just and permanent solution to this conflict.

Middle East

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support his Department is providing to projects fostering coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Alistair Burt: The Government recognises the importance of supporting constituencies committed to resolving the conflict peacefully, and to generate creative and positive dialogue at different levels between Israelis and Palestinians. We are currently developing our Conflict Pool programme portfolio for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the financial year 2013-14, a key element of which will be projects that foster co-existence.

Palestinians

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the effects that restrictions of movement and access in the West Bank have on the financial stability of the Palestinian authority.

Alistair Burt: The Government continues to assess that Israeli restrictions on movement and access in the west bank and Gaza are the single biggest obstacle to trade and economic development, and hence one of the most important causes of the current financial difficulties of the Palestinian Authority along with the withholding by Israel of customs revenues due to the Palestinian Authority. This is in line with the assessment of the World Bank's Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee on 19 March 2013.
	We continue to lobby the Israeli Government to ease its restrictions on movement and access and to transfer the customs revenues in a timely and predictable manner in accordance with its obligations under the Paris Protocol.

Syria

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on the ongoing civil unrest in Syria.

David Lidington: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) has regular discussions with the Turkish Foreign Minister. Ahmet Davutoglu, about Syria, most recently on 8 March 2013. They discussed developments on the refugee situation, concerns over border security and support for the Syrian National Coalition (SNC). Turkey plays an important role in the group of countries, including the UK, who are most active in support of the national coalition.
	The UK’s objective for Syria remains an end to the violence and a political transition to a more democratic Syria.

Treaties

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when his Department last recorded concern relating to breaches of treaty obligations by the signatory parties in respect of the Agreement between Great Britain and Colombia extending the Extradition Treaty of 27 October 1888 to Bechuanaland Protectorate, East Africa Protectorate, Gambia Protectorate, North East Rhodesia, North West Rhodesia, North Nigeria, Northern Territories of the Gold Coast, Nyasaland, Sierra Leone Protectorate, South Nigeria Protectorate, South Rhodesia, Swaziland and the Uganda Protectorate; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the relevant documentation.

David Lidington: The several thousand “live” treaties to which the UK is party play a crucial role in governing the UK's place in the world and its relations with other states, to the benefit of all its people. Such treaties include extradition, mutual legal assistance, military cooperation, double taxation, tax information exchange, and aviation treaties, to name but a few. They also include the founding treaties of international organisations, such as the EU and NATO. In the event of Scottish independence, the remainder of the UK would continue as a party to these treaties, while the new independent Scottish state would have to go through a process of becoming a party to (or confirming its participation in) however many of those treaties it wished to join.
	Some of the 14,000 treaties the UK on the FCO Treaties Online database are either no longer in force, or they are no longer in force for the UK because they were concluded by the United Kingdom on behalf of a former colonial territory. The treaty referred to in the question is likely to fall into one of these categories, although its current status could not be confirmed without further research which could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Council Tax Benefit

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions he has had with local authorities on the effect on disabled people of changes to council tax benefit.

Don Foster: There have been no specific discussions with local authorities recently on the impact on disabled people. The design and assessment of local council tax support schemes, is the responsibility of local authorities.
	Government is spending over £50 billion supporting disabled people. This is 2.4% of GDP compared to an EU average of 1.4%.

Housing: Taxation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects local authorities to report to his Department the level set for the community infrastructure levy and the affordable housing levy.

Nicholas Boles: When local planning authorities choose to adopt the community infrastructure levy they must consult on their proposed rates and these rates are subject to an independent public examination. After the examination the full Council must approve the charging schedule.
	After the charging schedule is approved the charging authority published it on their website and make it available at its principal office and at such other places in its area as it consider appropriate. The charging authority must also give notice by local advertisement of the approval of the charging schedule, give notice to those persons who requested to be notified of the approval of the charging schedule that it has been approved, and send a copy to each of the relevant consenting authorities.
	Local planning authorities are not required to report their Community Infrastructure Levy rates, or their affordable housing requirements in Section 106 planning obligations, to the Government.

Local Government: Constituencies

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) average, (b) smallest and (c) largest number of electors in (i) district wards and (ii) county electoral divisions is where the number of councillors is (A) one, (B) two and (C) three; and what the name is of each such ward and division.

Brandon Lewis: These are matters that are the responsibility of the independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England which is accountable through the Speakers Committee to this House, The Commission collect data on all electoral arrangements in English local authorities each year and will be able to provide information about these if requested.

Local Government: Constituencies

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his policy is on the alteration of local authority boundaries in order better to deliver the localism agenda.

Brandon Lewis: The Government believes that it is preferable for local authorities not to be distracted by boundary changes, but to focus on combining and sharing operations across boundaries on both front line service delivery and back office. Where all councils concerned believe a boundary change would be of genuine benefit, the Government will not stand in the way of their pursuing this, providing there is clear evidence of public support and the changes unambiguously would lead to greater value for money.

Right to Buy Scheme: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many tenants have participated in the Right to Buy scheme for social housing in (a) Barrow and Furness constituency, (b) South Lakeland and (c) Cumbria since 2 April 2012.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 13 March 2013
	Figures for local authority Right to Buy sales at local authority district level since April 2012 can be found in Live Table 691 on this page:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-buy-sales-in-england-2012-to-2013
	There were six Right to Buy sales by local authorities in Cumbria between 2012-13 Q1 and Q3. South Lakeland district council transferred their social housing stock at the end of the 2011-12 financial year. Figures are collected at local authority level and not available at parliamentary constituency level.

Carbon Monoxide: Alarms

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration his Department has given to amending Regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 to oblige landlords to provide a carbon monoxide alarm in their properties.

Mark Hoban: The Government has no plans to amend the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 to oblige landlords to provide carbon monoxide alarms. Guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) strongly recommends the use of audible carbon monoxide alarms as a precautionary measure, but makes clear that they are not a substitute for the correct installation or maintenance of a gas appliance as required by the regulations.

Employment and Support Allowance: Worthing

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what proportion of calls to Worthing Benefit Centre regarding employment and support allowance were returned within the target of three hours in (a) July 2012, (b) August 2012, (c) September 2012, (d) October 2012, (e) November 2012, (f) December 2012, (g) January 2013 and (h) February 2013;
	(2)  what proportion of first payments of employment and support allowance by Worthing Benefit Centre were made within the target of 16 days in (a) July 2012, (b) August 2012, (c) September 2012, (d) October 2012, (e) November 2012, (f) December 2012, (g) January 2013 and (h) February 2013;
	(3)  pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2013, Official Report, column 886W, on Jobcentre Plus: Worthing, for which benefit Worthing benefit centre is failing to meet internal performance standards in (a) returning calls and (b) processing claims; and if he will provide the performance measure data for the standards achieved by the centre.

Mark Hoban: The following table gives performance data for employment support allowance at Worthing Benefit Centre for calls returned within three hours and new claims processed within 16 days.
	
		
			 Employment support allowance 2012-13 
			  Percentage of calls returned within 3 hours (target 95%) Percentage of claims processed within 16 days (target 85%) 
			 July 12.0 68.4 
			 August 17.6 62.3 
			 September 13.7 71.2 
			 October 17.5 53.6 
			 November 24.4 59.0 
			 December 36.8 63.9 
			 January 44.3 72.0 
			 February 78.0 82.2 
		
	
	Worthing Benefit Centre is not currently meeting internal performance standards for employment support allowance (ESA) on both calls returned and new claims processed.
	Due to the high volumes that have been experienced in this area of work at Worthing Benefit Centre performance has been impacted greatly. Support has been given by other areas of the department and is continuing, backlogs have now reduced and performance is recovering. Full recovery is expected over the next few months.

Jobcentre Plus

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will establish for Jobcentre Plus a contact telephone number that is a UK landline number beginning 01, 02 or 03;
	(2)  if he will establish for the Disability Living Allowance Unit and the Attendance Allowance Unit a contact telephone number that is a UK landline number beginning 01, 02 or 03.

Mark Hoban: The reason DWP uses non-geographical numbers (08) rather than geographical 01, 02 numbers is because DWP operates a virtual telephony network. Using non-geographical numbers enables calls to be routed to the next available advisor with the appropriate skills to answer the enquiry and best places DWP to meet customer demand. Moving to geographic numbers would undermine the ability of the business to effectively manage the significant volume of calls received each year.
	With regards to 03 numbers. DWP numbering policy is kept under review, taking account of any changes to the costs of calling non-geographic numbers. Depending on the service provider and the specific contract or call plan in place, many customers would currently pay more to contact DWP, if 0845 services were replaced with 03 numbers. As a result, any change to the policy will need careful consideration. DWP has responded to Ofcom's proposals for the 0845 number range and we await their final report in March 2013. Their proposals do not include any requirement for organisations to replace 0845 numbers. More information on this consultation, including the DWP response, is freely available via the Ofcom website.

Poverty

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) part-time and (b) full-time work were living in poverty in each region of the UK in each year for which figures are available.

Mark Hoban: The following figures are provided from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) dataset and provide data on part time and full time workers by region, figures are presented as three year averages to overcome volatility in estimates. Estimates are presented both Before and After Housing Costs.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of individuals working part time living in households with less than 60% of contemporary median income, by region and country, United Kingdom. Before Housing Costs 
			 Million 
			  Part time work 
			  1994-95 to 1996-97 1995-96 to 1997-98 1996-97 to 1998-99 1997-98 to 1999-2000 1998-99 to 2000-01 1999-2000 to 2001-02 2000-01 to 2002-03 2001-02 to 2003-04 
			 North East 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 North West and Merseyside 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Yorks and Humberside 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 . 0.1 0.1 
			 East Midlands 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 West Midlands 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Eastern 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 London 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 
			 South East 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 South West 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Wales 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Scotland 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Northern Ireland — — — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Million 
			  Part time work 
			  2002-03 to 2004-05 2003-04 to 2005-06 2004-05 to 2006-07 2005-06 to 2007-08 2006-07 to 2008-09 2007-08 to 2009-10 2008-09 to 2010-11 
			 North East 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 
			 North West and Merseyside 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Yorks and Humberside 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 East Midlands 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 West Midlands 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 
			 Eastern 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 London 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 South East 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 South West 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Wales 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Scotland 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Northern Ireland 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of individuals working full time living in households with less than 60% of contemporary median income, by region and country, United Kingdom. Before Housing Costs 
			 Million 
			  Full time work 
			  1994-95 to 1996-97 1995-96 to 1997-98 1996-97 to 1998-99 1997-98 to 1999-2000 1998-99 to 2000-01 1999-2000 to 2001-02 2000-01 to 2002-03 2001-02 to 2003-04 
			 North East 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 North West and Merseyside 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Yorks and Humberside 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 East Midlands 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 West Midlands 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Eastern 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 London 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 South East 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 South West 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Wales 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Scotland 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Northern Ireland — — — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Million 
			  Full time work 
			  2002-03 to 2004-05 2003-04 to 2005-06 2004-05 to 2006-07 2005-06 to 2007-08 2006-07 to 2008-09 2007-08 to 2009-10 2008-09 to 2010-11 
			 North East 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0. 0.0 
			 North West and Merseyside 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Yorks and Humberside 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 East Midlands 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 West Midlands 0.1 0.1 . 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Eastern 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 London 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 South East 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 South West 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Wales 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Scotland 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Northern Ireland 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: Number of individuals working part time living in households with less than 60% of contemporary median income, by region and country, United Kingdom. After Housing Costs 
			 Million 
			  Part time work 
			  1994-95 to 1996-97 1995-96 to 1997-98 1996-97 to 1998-99 1997-98 to 1999-2000 1998-99 to 2000-01 1999-2000 to 2001-02 2000-01 to 2002-03 2001-02 to 2003-04 
			 North East 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 North West and Merseyside 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Yorks and Humberside 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 East Midlands 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 West Midlands 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 
			 Eastern 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 London 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 
			 South East 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 South West 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 
			 Wales 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Scotland 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Northern Ireland — — — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Million 
			  Part time work 
			  2002-03 to 2004-05 2003-04 to 2005-06 2004-05 to 2006-07 2005-06 to 2007-08 2006-07 to 2008-09 2007-08 to 2009-10 2008-09 to 2010-11 
			 North East 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 North West and Merseyside 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Yorks and Humberside 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 East Midlands 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 West Midlands 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Eastern 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 London 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 
			 South East 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 
			 South West 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Wales 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Scotland 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Northern Ireland 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 4: Number of individuals working full time living in households with less than 60% of contemporary median income, by region and country, United Kingdom. After Housing Cost 
			 Million 
			  Full time work 
			  1994-95 to 1996-97 1995-96 to 1997-98 1996-97 to 1998-99 1997-98 to 1999-2000 1998-99 to 2000-01 1999-2000 to 2001-02 2000-01 to 2002-03 2001-02 to 2003-04 
			 North East 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 North West and Merseyside 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
		
	
	
		
			 Yorks and Humberside 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 East Midlands 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 West Midlands 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Eastern 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 London 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 South East 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 South West 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Wales 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Scotland 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Northern Ireland — — — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Million 
			  Full time work 
			  2002-03 to 2004-05 2003-04 to 2005-06 2004-05 to 2006-07 2005-06 to 2007-08 2006-07 to 2008-09 2007-08 to 2009-10 2008-09 to 2010-11 
			 North East 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 
			 North West and Merseyside 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Yorks and Humberside 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 East Midlands 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 West Midlands 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Eastern 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 London 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 South East 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 South West 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Wales 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Scotland 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Northern Ireland 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data sourced from the 2010-11 Family Resources Survey (FRS). This uses disposable household income, adjusted using modified OECD equalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 2. Net disposable incomes have been used to answer the question. This includes earnings from employment and self-employment, state support, income from occupational and private pensions, investment income and other sources. Income tax payments, national insurance contributions, council tax/domestic rates and some other payments are deducted from incomes. 3. Figures have been presented on a Before Housing Cost and an After Housing Cost basis. For Before Housing Costs, housing costs are not deducted from income, while for After Housing Costs they are. 4. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 5. The reference period for HBAI figures is the financial year, three year averages have been sued to overcome volatility. 6. Numbers of individuals in each group have been rounded to the nearest 100,000. 7. Figures may not sum due to rounding. 8. Data for Northern Ireland has only been collected since 2002-03. Source: HBAI 1994-95 to 2010-11

Remploy

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many former Remploy workers have received more than £10,000 to assist with the business planning for a new social enterprise.

Esther McVey: Remploy employees who submitted an Expression of Interest in Stage 1 were able to apply for up to £10,000 worth of expert advice and support to help them further develop their proposal.
	This offer of support recognises that employees may need some additional help in formulating their initial proposals and £10,000 is seen as a sufficient amount of money to support bidders in bringing in the necessary expertise to further develop their proposals.
	To date there have been nine successful applications for this support with spend totalling £50,000, though not air of these have resulted in the development of social enterprises.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to put in place transitional arrangements in the case of a non-working family in receipt of benefits whose income is below the benefit cap, whose income is taken above the benefit cap on the birth of a child.

Mark Hoban: We are not making any specific arrangements for the situation where the cap applies for the first time because benefit levels have increased as a result of the birth of a child. However we are providing additional funds for discretionary housing payments to provide short-term relief for families affected by the benefit cap who may face a variety of challenges. The Government is providing up to £65 million for this purpose in 2013-14 and a further £35 million in 2014-15.

Universal Credit

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what work has been undertaken by his Department to assess the implications of the introduction of universal credit on (a) the two current statutory child maintenance schemes and (b) the newly-introduced statutory child maintenance scheme.

Steve Webb: There are two main implications:
	(i) The first which affects all three schemes is the collection of maintenance by direct deduction from state benefits. This will remain the case in the 2012 scheme and work is ongoing to align regulations, IT systems and procedures to allow this to continue to happen under universal credit.
	Once charging is introduced to the 2012 scheme, non- resident parents on benefits will be given the opportunity to make scheduled direct payments themselves, and only those parents who are unwilling to do so will have their payments deducted direct from benefits. This is an important part of the Government approach to encouraging parental responsibility. We are currently working on the detail of deductions from universal credit.
	(ii) The second affects only the 2003 and 2012 schemes. Receipt of certain benefits, that universal credit will replace, leads to maintenance being set at the flat rate in these schemes. We cannot simply put all universal credit recipients onto the flat rate as entitlement will extend to non-resident parents in work. We are currently developing the details of how to distinguish those universal credit recipients who should pay the flat rate from those who should be assessed on their income.
	Child maintenance payments are currently disregarded when calculating benefit entitlements, and the Government has no plans to change this.

Business: North East

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of companies with their registered office address in the north east which were (a) newly incorporated and (b) dissolved in each year since 2001.

Michael Fallon: Companies House estimates that the numbers of companies with their registered office address in the north-east which were (a) newly incorporated and (b) dissolved in each year since 2001 were as follows.
	
		
			  Incorporated Dissolved 
			 2001 4,089 2,906 
			 2002 5,884 2,974 
			 2003 7,861 2,945 
			 2004 6,215 3,420 
			 2005 6,491 3,139 
			 2006 7,210 3,456 
			 2007 9,250 4,303 
			 2008 7,855 3,599 
			 2009 8,549 8,889 
			 2010 8,935 7,022 
			 2011 10,394 6,574 
			 2012 10,705 6,574 
			 2013 (To 14 March) 2,450 1,937 
		
	
	These figures are estimates because the Companies House derives its figures from postcode areas, which can cross regional boundaries.

Community Development Finance Institutions

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding he has allocated to increase the level of lending to small and medium-sized enterprises by community development finance institutions; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The Government is supporting the community development finance institutions (CDFI) sector though the Regional Growth Fund. Among other bids, it is making a contribution of £30 million to facilitate £60 million of onward lending by CDFIs into small and medium-sized enterprises.
	In addition, changes to the Community Investment Tax Relief (CITR) scheme are due to come into effect from 1 April 2013. These changes will streamline the reporting and accreditation requirements for CDFIs, making it easier to use the scheme to raise further investment into the sector. Currently the scheme has raised £94.5 million of investment, enabling £95.3 million onward lending to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Construction: ICT

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of opportunities for the export of Building Information Management software.

Michael Fallon: In November 2012, the Government published the ‘Building Information Modelling—Industrial Strategy’ which outlines a number of growth opportunities generated from the success of the Government's programme to embed the use of Building Information Management (BIM) in all centrally procured public construction projects by 2016. The strategy underlines the need to put in place a clear approach to exploiting the UK's expertise on BIM to develop our international construction competitiveness. The strategy identifies ICT technology development and service provision as BIM-related opportunities for UK industry. BIS officials are working closely with the BIM Task Group and the BIM Technology Alliance to on how best to assist with new market opportunities; in liaison with UKTI—which sees BIM as a central part of the UK sustainable construction offer.

Overseas Trade: Indonesia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to promote trade with Indonesia.

Michael Fallon: UK Trade and Investment has a 10 person team in Jakarta to support British exporters. UK Trade and Investment Asia Task Force team runs events across the UK with the aim of encouraging more UK businesses to consider and take advantage of the opportunities across Asia. During the current campaign more than 1,000 businesses have taken part in 15 events. Indonesia is a key component of this work.
	To enhance our engagement, the Prime Minister announced in November 2012 the appointment of my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) as his Trade Envoy for Indonesia to be active both in Indonesia and in raising the profile of Indonesia in the UK. The Member for Gloucester made a first visit to the market in this capacity in January of this year.
	During the Prime Minister's visit to Indonesia in April 2012, both countries announced a shared ambition to double bilateral trade from £2.2 billion in 2010 to £4.4 billion by 2015 and at the second round of bilateral trade talks in October 2012 Lord Green agreed with his Indonesian ministerial counterpart to form a "Trade and Investment 2030 Vision Group" to report to Ministers of both Governments on what we want our trade and investment relationship to be in 2030 and the action required to get there.
	In February of this year the UK ASEAN Business Council hosted a round table discussion for UK businesses with Dr Chatib Bash, the Chairman of the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was paid to officials in (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies in bonuses and other payments in addition to salary in each of the last five years; how many officials received such payments; and what the monetary value was of the 20 largest payments made in each year.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was formed through a machinery of government change that occurred in June 2009. BIS was created by merging the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).
	Based on information available, the following table provides details for both the former Departments that were merged to create BIS. To provide details of other additional payments and allowances before 2010-11, and the 20 largest payments, would involve checking various data sources and would entail disproportionate costs, as would obtaining the information for BIS’ non-departmental public bodies.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Financial year Performance related payments (including SCS) Allowances 
			 2009-10 2,734,780 — 
			 2010-11 1,540,957 2,941,096 
			 2011-12 1,614,939 2,807,707 
		
	
	The allowance figures in the above table include pay enhancements that recognise staff with specialist skills such as lawyers, economists, accountants etc.
	BIS also operates the following working pattern allowances: overtime, travelling time, meal allowance, night duty allowance and night duty officer's allowance, off shore allowance, on call allowance, standby allowance, weekend duty senior press officers allowance, overseas allowances and emergency preparedness volunteers.

Profit Sharing

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what support his Department provides to businesses that want to increase share ownership amongst their employees.

Jo Swinson: The Government is fully committed to implementing the Nuttall Review on Employee Ownership published in July 2012. BIS officials are making good progress towards removing red-tape restricting internal share markets and are in the process of developing legal templates and guidance to assist businesses wanting to increase employee share ownership. Alongside this, we are also undertaking a number of other measures to promote a greater uptake of employee ownership in the economy.

Regional Growth Fund

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assistance has been provided to Eli Lily under the Regional Growth Fund; and for what purpose such assistance has been granted.

Michael Fallon: Eli Lilly is one of the selected bidders in round 3 of the Regional Growth Fund that was announced in October 2012. These bids are still going through the contracting phase so no final award has yet been agreed. The deadline for completion of this phase is 19 April 2013 and a further announcement will follow then.

Research

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the public sector has spent on research and development in each year for which figures are available; and what information his Department holds on research and development spending by the private sector in such years.

David Willetts: Office for National Statistics publishes gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) in the United Kingdom. The latest available figures broken down by public and private spending on R&D are shown as follows:
	
		
			 Expenditure on research and development in the UK 
			 £ million 
			  Public sector Private sector Total 
			 2000 5,931 11,806 17,736 
			 2001 5,983 12,564 18,547 
			 2002 6,384 12,858 19,243 
			 2003 6,853 12,874 19,727 
			 2004 7,174 13,068 20,242 
			 2005 7,869 14,236 22,106 
			 2006 8,335 14,657 22,993 
			 2007 8,473 16,222 24,696 
			 2008 8,934 16,409 25,345 
			 2009 9,434 16,198 25,632 
			 2010 9,474 16,705 26,179 
			 2011 9,475 17,904 27,380 
			 Source: UK Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D, ONS 
		
	
	GERD statistics measure all R&D performed in UK, irrespective of who pays for it, including funding from abroad. However, it excludes R&D performed abroad even if it is funded from the UK. The public sector definition used comprises of UK Government Departments, research councils and higher education institutions.
	A longer time series setting out this information back to 1993 is available from the ONS publication entitled: UK Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D statistics—see:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/rdit1/gross-domestic-expenditure-on-research-and-development/2011/index.html

Sugar

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much sugar of each type was imported to the UK in each year since 1990.

Michael Fallon: Data is published by Eurostat on their statistics database:
	http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/search_database
	Data is also published by the HMRC on their
	www.uktradeinfo.com
	website for the years 1996 onwards.

Trade Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of the working population in (a) the private sector and (b) the public sector were members of a union in each year for which figures are available.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills annually publishes statistical data on trade union membership which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/16381/12-p77-trade-union-membership-2011.pdf
	Table 2.2 on page 26 sets out trade union density by public and private sector for the years 1995-2011.

Continuing Care

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what progress the NHS Commissioning Board has made in developing the Long-Term Conditions Strategy and its Diabetes Companion Document; and when he expects these documents to be published; [R]
	(2)  what progress his Department has made in developing the Diabetes Action Plan; and when he expects this document to be published. [R]

Anna Soubry: The Department will no longer publish an Outcomes Strategy for Long-Term Conditions and Diabetes Companion Document, as, through the Mandate, we have asked the NHS Commissioning Board to lead on producing proposals for how the new system will work together to support improved outcomes for people with long-term conditions.
	The Diabetes Action Plan will set out actions that the national health service can take to increase identification, improve prevention and treatment of diabetes. We expect the NHS Commissioning Board, with input from Jonathan Valabhji, the new national clinical director for obesity and diabetes, to regard publication of the action plan as an early and important contribution to supporting the outcomes it is expected to deliver across the five Domains of the NHS Outcomes Framework.

Dental Services: Birmingham

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in (a) Birmingham and (b) Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency provide NHS treatment for (i) children and (ii) adults.

Daniel Poulter: The information is not collected in the format requested. Data on dentists is not collected by constituency area and does not separately identify which patient groups are treated.
	The following table shows the number of primary care dentists within the three Birmingham primary care trusts (PCT) that treat both children and adults.
	
		
			 Primary care (high street) dentists in Birmingham with national health service activity, in the year-ending 31 March 2012 
			 Organisation name Organisation code Total number of dentists 
			 Birmingham East and North PCT 5PG 218 
			 Heart of Birmingham PCT 5MX 152 
			 South Birmingham PCT 5M1 181 
			 Notes: 1. Dentists are defined as performers with NHS activity recorded by FP17 forms during each financial year. 2. Dentists will be counted more than once if they have a contract in more than one PCT or strategic health authority. 3. Data consists of performers in General Dental Services, Personal Dental Services and Trust-led Dental Services. Sources: 1. Health and Social Care Information Centre 2. NHS Dental Services of the NHS Business Services Authority

Hospital Beds

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital beds at (a) Furness General Hospital, (b) Westmorland General Hospital and (c) Lancaster Royal Infirmary (i) are available now and (ii) were available in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: Information is not available in the format requested. Information on hospital bed availability at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (FT) during each of the last five years is shown in the following tables. It is the responsibility of individual trusts, working with local national health service commissioners, to ensure that the availability of hospital beds is appropriate to meet demand.
	
		
			 Average daily number of available beds open overnight at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS FT by sector from 2008-09 to Q3 2012-13 
			  Quarter Total General and acute Mental illness Maternity Learning disabilities 
			 2008-09 — 878 823 — 55 — 
			 2009-10 — 857 802 — 55 — 
			 2010-11 Q1 795 740 — 55 — 
			 2010-11 Q2 783 728 — 55 — 
			 2010-11 Q3 795 740 — 55 — 
			 2010-11 Q4 800 745 — 55 — 
			 2011-12 Q1 783 728 — 55 — 
			 2011-12 Q2 759 705 — 54 — 
			 2011-12 Q3 760 705 — 55 — 
			 2011-12 Q4 760 705 — 55 — 
			 2012-13 Q1 783 728 — 55 — 
			 2012-13 Q2 795 740 — 55 — 
			 2012-13 Q3 802 747 — 55 — 
			 Note: From 2010-11 onwards, the KH03 collection changed from an annual to a quarterly collection. At the same time, the classification for bed occupancy was changed from ward type to the consultant specialty of the responsible consultant, therefore the data is not directly comparable. Source: Department of Health—KH03 Unify2 Data Collection. 
		
	
	
		
			 Average daily number of available beds open day only at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS FT from 2008-09 to Q3 2012-13 
			  Quarter Total 
			 2008-09 — 48 
			 2009-10 — 80 
			 2010-11 Q1 127 
			 2010-11 Q2 124 
			 2010-11 Q3 126 
			 2010-11 Q4 138 
			 2011-12 Q1 133 
			 2011-12 Q2 131 
			 2011-12 Q3 135 
			 2011-12 Q4 140 
			 2012-13 Q1 140 
			 2012-13 Q2 133 
			 2012-13 Q3 119 
			 Note: From 2010-11 onwards, the KH03 collection changed from an annual to a quarterly collection. At the same time, the classification for bed occupancy was changed from ward type to the consultant specialty of the responsible consultant, therefore the data is not directly comparable. Source: Department of Health—KH03 Unify2 Data Collection.

Mental Illness: Young People

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to diagnose and treat mental illnesses in young people; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: Children and young people's mental health is a priority for this Government. That is why we are investing £54 million over the four-year period 2011-15 in the Children and Young People's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme to drive service transformation in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services—giving children and young people improved access to the best mental health care by embedding evidence based practice.
	‘No health without mental health: a cross-Government mental health outcomes strategy for people of all ages’ was published in February 2011. The strategy takes a life course approach and highlights the importance of early intervention and prevention, and makes clear an expectation of parity of esteem between mental and physical health services.
	The implementation framework for the mental health strategy sets out details of. How Government, national and local organisations can help implement the strategy and improve outcomes for people of all ages.

Mobile Phones

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which company holds the largest contract to provide mobile telephony services to his Department; how much is paid each year under that contract; how many individual devices are covered by the contract; when the contract was awarded; and when and how the contract will next be reviewed.

Daniel Poulter: Department currently sources mobile telephony services from Vodafone under a cross Government Framework Agreement.
	The Department spent £842,720 during the last two years ending in December 2012 on mobile telephony services.
	The number of individual departmental mobile devices covered by the contract at 31 December 2012 is 2,390.
	The contract commenced on 1 April 2011 and the contract expiry date is 31 March 2015. The Department has no planned review date for this contract.
	NHS Connecting for Health's mobile telephony contract is with Vodafone. For the financial year 2011-12, the expenditure was £484,887. Annual expenditure changes based on usage and numbers of handsets purchased. As at 1 March 2013, the number of devices held was 1,368. This included phones, mobile devices and USB dongles. The contract was awarded to Vodafone in 2011 and has just been reviewed and adjusted to a more economical tariff.

NHS Direct

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will establish for NHS Direct a contact telephone number that is a UK landline number beginning 01, 02 or 03.

Anna Soubry: NHS Directs 0845 4647 number will be switched off at the end of June, when the new, free-to-call, NHS 111 service will be available across England.

NHS: Pay

Michael Ellis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many managers in the NHS are paid more than the Prime Minister.

Daniel Poulter: The headcount of senior managers in September 2012 was 11,150. The Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Data Warehouse records of total payments made to staff directly employed by those organisations which use ESR suggests that approximately 400 managers received payments in excess of £142,500 in the 12 months October 2011 to September 2012, the latest data available.
	The Electronic Staff Record Data Warehouse is a monthly snap shot of the live ESR system. This is the HR and payroll system that covers all national health service employees other than those working in General Practice, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and some NHS staff who have transferred to local authorities and social enterprises.
	Managers are defined as those recorded on ESR as either a manager or senior manager.
	The analysis counts actual payments. No uplift has been applied to payments made to employees who work on a part time basis or who did not work for the full 12 months.

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will meet the Chief Executive of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital to discuss (a) developments plans and (b) the UK's wider specialist orthopaedic offering to patients;
	(3)  whether he has any plans to visit the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital;
	(4)  if he will make an assessment of access to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital site in Stanmore for patients with impaired mobility;
	(5)  what recent assessment he has made of the age, condition and layout of the buildings at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital;
	(6)  what assessment his Department has made of the long-term effects of a failure to secure planning consent to upgrade facilities at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital's Stanmore site on (a) existing outpatients, (b) future patients, (c) training of orthopaedic surgeons and (d) wider NHS orthopaedic service delivery;
	(7)  if he will support the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital's development proposals for the Stanmore site; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust submitted the draft Appointment Business Case for the redevelopment of the hospital to the Department in December 2012.
	This business case is currently being reviewed by the Department and the NHS London Strategic Health Authority. The Department is working with the trust to complete its review as quickly as possible.
	The redevelopment would create a new 124-bed in-patient facility to provide neuroskeletal health care and rehabilitation in modern hospital settings for patients from London and across the United Kingdom from 2016 onwards. This would replace the existing buildings, which are some of the oldest in the national health service and are no longer suitable for treating patients. The redevelopment would also ensure good physical access to services for patients and visitors, including making it easy to navigate and access for disabled patients.
	The trust has submitted its application for full planning permission for whole site redevelopment to the local planning committee of the London borough of Harrow and it will be considered at a committee meeting on 21 March. Full planning permission is requirement for the scheme to proceed.
	At present there are no plans for a ministerial visit to the hospital.

Sick Leave

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many days (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies has lost to staff sickness in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such absence in each year.

Daniel Poulter: For the Department: the number of days lost and estimated cost of absence for the years in question, are presented in following table. These data are based on average staff cost including superannuation and the Department's employer's contribution to national insurance.
	
		
			 Calendar year Total number of working days lost Cost of absence (£) 
			 2008 12,845 3,134,511 
			 2009 11,262 2,927,797 
			 2010 11,810 3,094,482 
			 2011 9,962 2,593,047 
			 2012 8,949 2,254,547 
		
	
	The Department's non-departmental public bodies have provided the information set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of days each non-departmental public body has lost to staff sickness in each of the last five financial years: 
			 Name of organisation 2012-13 to 28 February 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 
			 Care Quality Commission 25,562 26,155 21,520 22,648 (1)— 
			 NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) (2)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Human Fertilisation Embryology Authority 384 522 648 734 626 
			 'Health Protection Agency (HPA)(3) 36,262 35,063 36,808 39,677 32,643 
			 Human Tissue Authority 240 230.5 317 354 74 
			 Monitor 814.7 410 292 278 305.5 
		
	
	
		
			  Estimated cost of such absence in each financial year (£) 
			 Name of organisation 2012-13 to 28 February 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 
			 Care Quality Commission 4,701,689 4,873,830 3,931,860 4,112,460 (1)— 
			 NHS Commissioning Board ( NHS CB) (2)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Human Fertilisation Embryology Authority 25,000 50,000 97,000 110,000 91,000 
			 'Health Protection Agency (HPA)(3) 6,835,990 8,008,900 8,139,550 8,740,370 7,381,490 
			 Human Tissue Authority 48,812 42,461 59,366 65,490 13,690 
			 Monitor 259,470 137,840 99,100 93,260 100,060 
			 (1 )Not in existence. (2 )NHS CB: The NHS CB became an executive non-departmental public body on 1 October 2012 and will not be effectively operational until 1 April 2013. The NHS CB is undertaking a significant programme of staff transition and recruitment, and during this financial year most staff have been working on a secondment or interim basis. Therefore it is not possible to give meaningful and accurate figures for 2012-13. (3 )HPA: 2012-13 figures for 2012-13 are from April 2012 to January 2013. These figures are high level ones and are therefore only an estimated cost of absence.

Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) 0800, (b) 0808, (c) 0844, (d) 0845 and (e) 0870 telephone numbers for the public are in use by (i) his Department and (ii) the agencies for which he is responsible.

Daniel Poulter: The Department of Health Communications Directorate owns 135 0800 telephone numbers, a single 0808 telephone number and four 0845 telephone numbers for use by the public. There are no 0844 or 0870 numbers. Not all of the numbers owned by the Department are in current use.
	The Department's Executive Agency, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has one 0808 number, for use by the public.
	The Department has a number of arm's length bodies and national programmes e.g. NHS Employers. Information about telephone services for these bodies is not held centrally and cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.

Tobacco: Retail Trade

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to publish his Department's summary report of responses to its consultation on standardised packaging of tobacco products; and when he intends to bring forward any policy proposals arising from this consultation.

Anna Soubry: The Department has received many thousands of responses to the consultation on standardised packaging of tobacco products. A summary report of consultation responses will be published in due course.
	The Government has an open mind on this issue and any decisions to take further policy action will be taken only after full consideration is given to the consultation responses, evidence and other relevant information.

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) males and (b) females in each court service area aged between (i) 10 and 12, (ii) 13 and 16 and (iii) 17 and 18-years-old were (A) proceeded against, (B) found guilty and (C) sentenced to immediate custody for alcohol-related offences in (1) 2012, (2) 2011 and (3) 2010.

Jeremy Wright: The number of defendants aged 10 to 18 proceeded against at magistrates courts, and the number of offenders aged 10 to 18 found guilty and sentenced to immediate custody at all courts for alcohol related offences, by gender and age band, for each police force area in England and Wales, for the years 2010 and 2011, can be viewed in the following table.
	Court proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013.
	
		
			 Defendants aged 10 to 18 proceeded against at magistrates courts, and offenders aged 10 to 18 found guilty and sentenced to immediate custody at all courts for alcohol related offences(1), by gender and age band, for each police force area in England and Wales, 2010 and 2011(2, 3) 
			 Year, police force area, gender Proceeded against Found guilty Sentenced to immediate custody 
			   Age 
			   10-12 13-16 17-18 10-12 13-16 17-18 10-12 13-16 17-18 
			 2010           
			 Avon and Somerset Male — 2 32 — 2 30 — — — 
			  Female — — 8 — — 8 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 2 40 — 2 38 — — — 
			 Bedfordshire Male — — 17 — — 17 — — 1 
			  Female — — 1 — — 1 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Defendants — — 18 — — 18 — — 1 
			 Cambridgeshire Male — 3 24 — 3 22 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Total — 3 28 — 3 26 — — — 
			 Cheshire Male — 1 35 — 1 35 — — — 
			  Female — — 10 — — 10 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 45 — 1 45 — — — 
			 Cleveland Male — 2 20 — 2 21 — — 1 
			  Female — — 2 — — 2 — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 2 22 — 2 23 — — 1 
			 Cumbria Male — 1 15 — 1 15 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Total — 1 19 — 1 19 — — — 
			 Derbyshire Male — 3 30 — 3 29 — — — 
			  Female — 1 8 — — 7 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 4 38 — 3 36 — — — 
			 Devon and Cornwall Male — 6 39 — 6 39 — — — 
			  Female — — 10 — — 10 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 6 49 — 6 49 — — — 
			 Dorset Male — 2 16 — 2 16 — — — 
			  Female — — 6 — — 6 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 2 22 — 2 22 — — — 
			 Durham Male — 3 25 — 3 24 — — 1 
			  Female — — 3 — — 3 — — — 
			  Total — 3 28 — 3 27 — — 1 
			 Essex Male — 3 28 — 3 27 — — — 
			  Female — — 8 — — 8 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 36 — 3 35 — — — 
			 Gloucestershire Male — 1 16 — 1 16 — — 1 
			  Female — 2 — — 2 — — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 16 — 3 16 — — 1 
			 Greater Manchester Male — 2 50 — 2 49 — — 1 
			  Female — 1 16 — — 16 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 66 — 2 65 — — 1 
			 Hampshire Male — 8 53 — 8 53 — — — 
			  Female — 2 9 — 1 9 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 10 62 — 9 62 — — — 
			 Hertfordshire Male — — 19 — — 19 — — — 
			  Female — — 11 — — 11 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — — 30 — — 30 — — — 
			 Humberside Male — 2 28 — 2 28 — — 1 
			  Female — 1 2 — 1 2 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 30 — 3 30 — — 1 
			 Kent Male — 3 37 — 3 35 — — — 
			  Female — — 12 — — 12 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 49 — 3 47 — — — 
			 Lancashire Male — 4 65 — 4 61 — — — 
			  Female — 1 8 — 1 8 — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 5 73 — 5 69 — — — 
			 Leicestershire Male — 2 13 — 2 11 — — — 
			  Female — — 2 — — 2 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 2 15 — 2 13 — — — 
			 Lincolnshire Male — 3 17 — 3 17 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 21 — 3 21 — — — 
			 London, City of Male — — 1 — — 1 — — — 
			  Female — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — — 1 — — 1 — — — 
			 Merseyside Male — — 14 — — 13 — — — 
			  Female — — 2 — — 2 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — — 16 — — 15 — — — 
			 Metropolitan Police Male — 4 84 — 3 79 — — 1 
			  Female — — 23 — — 23 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 4 107 — 3 102 — — 1 
			 Norfolk Male — 3 14 — 3 12 — — — 
			  Female — 1 3 — 1 3 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 4 17 — 4 15 — — — 
			 Northamptonshire Male — 2 17 — 2 17 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 2 21 — 2 21 — — — 
			 Northumbria Male — 4 61 — 4 58 — — — 
			  Female — 1 12 — — 11 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 5 73 — 4 69 — — — 
			 North Yorkshire Male — 2 31 — 2 31 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 2 35 — 2 35 — — — 
			 Nottinghamshire Male — 1 22 — 1 22 — — — 
			  Female — 1 4 — 1 4 — — — 
			  Total — 2 26 — 2 26 — — — 
			 South Yorkshire Male — 2 34 — 2 33 — — 1 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 2 38 — 2 37 — — 1 
			 Staffordshire Male — 2 24 — 2 24 — — 1 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Total — 2 28 — 2 28 — — 1 
			 Suffolk Male — 1 8 — 1 7 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 12 — 1 11 — — — 
			 Surrey Male — 1 27 — 1 24 — — — 
			  Female — — 7 — — 7 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — 1 — — 1 — — — 
			  Total — 1 35 — 1 32 — — — 
			 Sussex Male — 5 38 — 5 38 — — — 
			  Female — — 3 — — 3 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 5 41 — 5 41 — — — 
			 Thames Valley Male — 3 45 — 3 44 — — 1 
			  Female — — 5 — — 4 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 50 — 3 48 — — 1 
			 Warwickshire Male — — 19 — — 18 — — — 
			  Female — — 1 — — 1 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — — 20 — — 19 — — — 
			 West Mercia Male — 1 32 — 1 32 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 3 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 36 — 1 35 — — — 
			 West Midlands Male — 5 42 — 5 39 — — — 
			  Female — — 10 — — 10 — — 1 
			  Not Stated — — 1 — — 1 — — — 
			  Total — 5 53 — 5 50 — — 1 
			 West Yorkshire Male — 3 51 — 2 50 — — — 
			  Female — — 10 — — 9 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 61 — 2 59 — — — 
			 Wiltshire Male — 2 11 — 2 11 — — — 
			  Female — — 2 — — 1 — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 2 13 — 2 12 — — — 
			 Dyfed Powys Male — — 15 — — 15 — — — 
			  Female — — 6 — — 6 — — — 
			  Total — — 21 — — 21 — — — 
			 Gwent Male — 1 15 — 1 15 — — — 
			  Female — — 5 — — 5 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 20 — 1 20 — — — 
			 North Wales Male — 1 25 — 1 25 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 29 — 1 29 — — — 
			 South Wales Male — 7 41 — 7 40 — — — 
			  Female — — 13 — — 13 — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 7 54 — 7 53 — — — 
			 England and Wales Male — 101 1250 — 99 1212 — — 10 
			  Female — 11 262 — 7 256 — — 1 
			  Not Stated — — 2 — — 2 — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 112 1514 — 106 1470 — — 11 
			            
			 2011           
			 Avon and Somerset Male — 3 28 — 3 28 — — — 
			  Female — — 8 — — 8 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 36 — 3 36 — — — 
			 Bedfordshire Male — 1 11 — 1 10 — — — 
			  Female — — 3 — — 3 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 14 — 1 13 — — — 
			 Cambridgeshire Male — — 10 — — 10 — — — 
			  Female — 1 2 — 1 2 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 12 — 1 12 — — — 
			 Cheshire Male — 3 23 — 3 22 — — — 
			  Female — — 7 — — 7 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 30 — 3 29 — — — 
			 Cleveland Male — 2 18 — 2 18 — — — 
			  Female — — 2 — — 2 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 2 20 — 2 20 — — — 
			 Cumbria Male — 2 13 — 2 13 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Total — 2 17 — 2 17 — — — 
			 Derbyshire Male — — 12 — — 12 — — — 
			  Female — — 7 — — 7 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — — 19 — — 19 — — — 
			 Devon and Cornwall Male — 6 31 — 6 30 — — — 
			  Female — — 7 — — 6 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 6 38 — 6 36 — — — 
			 Dorset Male — 3 12 — 3 12 — — — 
			  Female — — 2 — — 2 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 14 — 3 14 — — — 
			 Durham Male — — 20 — — 20 — — — 
			  Female — — 7 — — 7 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — — 27 — — 27 — — — 
			 Essex Male — — 28 — — 27 — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  Female — — 3 — — 3 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — — 31 — — 30 — — — 
			 Gloucestershire Male — 4 11 — 4 11 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 4 15 — 4 15 — — — 
			 Greater Manchester Male — 10 31 — 10 29 — — — 
			  Female — — 9 — — 9 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 10 40 — 10 38 — — — 
			 Hampshire Male — 4 42 — 4 40 — — — 
			  Female — — 9 — — 9 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 4 51 — 4 49 — — — 
			 Hertfordshire Male — 3 17 — 3 16 — — — 
			  Female — — 6 — — 6 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 23 — 3 22 — — — 
			 Humberside Male — 3 19 — 3 17 — — — 
			  Female — — 3 — — 3 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 22 — 3 20 — — — 
			 Kent Male — 3 36 — 3 36 — — — 
			  Female — — 8 — — 8 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 44 — 3 44 — — — 
			 Lancashire Male — 5 31 — 5 30 — — — 
			  Female — — 5 — — 5 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 5 36 — 5 35 — — — 
			 Leicestershire Male — — 12 — — 11 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — — 16 — — 15 — — — 
			 Lincolnshire Male — — 16 — — 15 — — — 
			  Female — — 5 — — 5 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — — 21 — — 20 — — — 
			 London, City of Male — — 1 — — 1 — — — 
			  Female — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — — 1 — — 1 — — — 
			 Merseyside Male — 1 17 — 1 14 — — — 
			  Female — — 6 — — 6 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 23 — 1 20 — — — 
			 Metropolitan Police Male — 4 54 — 4 51 — — 1 
			  Female — 1 17 — 1 17 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — 1 — — 1 — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 5 72 — 5 69 — — 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Norfolk Male — 3 13 — 3 12 — — — 
			  Female — — 1 — — 1 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 14 — 3 13 — — — 
			 Northamptonshire Male — 1 14 — 1 14 — — — 
			  Female — — — — — — — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 14 — 1 14 — — — 
			 Northumbria Male — 9 45 — 9 44 — 1 — 
			  Female — — 8 — — 7 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 9 53 — 9 51 — 1 — 
			 North Yorkshire Male — 3 25 — 3 25 — — — 
			  Female — — 5 — — 5 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 30 — 3 30 — — — 
			 Nottinghamshire Male — 2 19 — 2 18 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 2 23 — 2 22 — — — 
			 South Yorkshire Male — — 26 — — 24 — — — 
			  Female — 1 5 — 1 5 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 31 — 1 29 — — — 
			 Staffordshire Male — 2 17 — 2 16 — — — 
			  Female — — 6 — — 6 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 2 23 — 2 22 — — — 
			 Suffolk Male — — 9 — — 8 — — — 
			  Female — — 2 — — 2 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — — 11 — — 10 — — — 
			 Surrey Male — — 15 — — 15 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Total — — 19 — — 19 — — — 
			 Sussex Male — 2 22 — 2 21 — — — 
			  Female — — 6 — — 6 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 2 28 — 2 27 — — — 
			 Thames Valley Male — 3 36 — 2 36 — — — 
			  Female — — 10 — — 10 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 46 — 2 46 — — — 
			 Warwickshire Male — 1 6 — 1 6 — — — 
			  Female — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 6 — 1 6 — — — 
			 West Mercia Male — 4 20 — 4 19 — — — 
			  Female — — 2 — — 2 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  Total — 4 22 — 4 21 — — — 
			 West Midlands Male — — 31 — — 31 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — 1 — — 1 — — — 
			  Total — — 36 — — 36 — — — 
			 West Yorkshire Male — 3 26 — 3 23 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 30 — 3 27 — — — 
			 Wiltshire Male — 1 5 — 1 5 — — — 
			  Female — — 2 — — 2 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 7 — 1 7 — — — 
			 Dyfed Powys Male — 1 12 — 1 12 — — — 
			  Female — — 1 — — 1 — — — 
			  Total — 1 13 — 1 13 — — — 
			 Gwent Male — — 21 — — 21 — — — 
			  Female — — 4 — — 4 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — — 25 — — 25 — — — 
			 North Wales Male — 1 19 — 1 18 — — — 
			  Female — — 8 — — 8 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 1 27 — 1 26 — — — 
			 South Wales Male — 3 30 — 3 30 — — — 
			  Female — — 12 — — 11 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — — — — — — — — 
			  Total — 3 42 — 3 41 — — — 
			 England and Wales Male — 96 904 — 95 871 — 1 1 
			  Female — 3 216 — 3 213 — — — 
			  Not Stated — — 2 — — 2 — — — 
			  Other — — — — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  Total — 99 1122 — 98 1086 — 1 1 
			 (1) Includes offences under the following statutes: Policing and Crime Act 2009 S.30 Road Traffic Act 1988 S.5(1)(a) Road Traffic Act 1988 S.5(1)(b) Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 S.12 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 Sch.12 P.5 Licensing Act 1902 S.6(2B) Licensing Act 1902 S.6(2C) Licensing Act 2003 S.137 Licensing Act 2003 S.138 Licensing Act 2003 S.141 Licensing Act 2003 S.142 Licensing Act 2003 S.146 Licensing Act 2003 S.147 Licensing Act 2003 S.147A Licensing Act 2003 S.149 (1) & (7)(a) Licensing Act 2003 S.149 (3), (4) & (7)(b) Licensing Act 2003 S.150(1) Licensing Act 2003 S.151 Licensing Act 2003 S.152 Licensing Act 2003 S.153 Licensing Act 2003 S.156 Licensing Act 2003 S.157 Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons) Act 1997 S.1 Licensing Act 2003 S.145 Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 SS.1(4) & 1A(4) Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 S.2(2) Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 SS.5B(3), 5C,(4), & 5D(3) Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 SS.1(2) & 1A(2) Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 SS.1(3) & 1A(3) Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 S.2(1) Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 SS.3(10), 5B(2), 5C(3) & 5D(2) Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 S.5C(5) Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 S.6(2) (2) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Alternatives to Prison

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will require probation trusts to publish the outcome of community sentences, the details of payback schemes and reoffending rates, on a fixed and permanent basis.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice publishes annually the probation trust performance ratings and other measures of performance, including completion rates for orders and licences and for community payback requirements:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/prisons-and-probation/prison-probation-performance-info
	In addition, each quarter the Department publishes proven reoffending rates for offenders supervised by probation trusts:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/reoffending/proven-re-offending
	Probation trusts are required to prepare an annual report giving an overview of their community payback activities. The report includes information relating to the work projects that were completed and the range of beneficiary organisations and criminal justice partner agencies. These are normally published on probation trusts' individual websites.

Buildings

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what occupation costs of each type are incurred for each property used by his Department.

Damian Green: The Ministry of Justice estate comprises of over 1,600 properties, including courts, tribunals, prison and young offender institutions, prison officers' quarters and administrative properties. Information on the occupation costs (rents, rates, service charges, maintenance, security, cleaning and utilities) incurred for each property used by the Department is not collated centrally and this information could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

Community Orders

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what consideration he has given to extending the use of litter picking as part of community schemes.

Jeremy Wright: Community Payback requires offenders to do unpaid work which benefits the community. Members of the public are encouraged to identify Community Payback work projects for offenders. Public nomination of work projects helps to ensure that Community Payback provides real benefits to local communities. The Government plans to increase the number of Community Payback work projects nominated by members of the public.
	One of the most frequently requested Community Payback tasks is the clearance of litter and illegally disposed of rubbish—these are ideal tasks to be completed by offenders undertaking Community Payback.

Employment Tribunals Service

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  if he will provide a breakdown, by jurisdiction, of the number of (a) monetary awards and (b) non-monetary awards made by employment tribunals in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13 to date;
	(2)  how many unpaid employment tribunal awards and Acas settlements have been passed to the High Court enforcement officers in financial year 2012-13 to date; how many of those unpaid awards and settlements (a) have been fully enforced, (b) have been partially enforced, (c) have been enforced with payments in instalments, (d) are still ongoing and (e) have been closed as unenforceable;
	(3)  pursuant to the answer of 11 June 2012, Official Report, column 349W, on Employment Tribunals Service, how many of the unpaid employment tribunal awards and Acas settlements passed to the High Court enforcement officers in financial year 2011-12 (a) have now been fully enforced, (b) have now been partially enforced, paid in part, (c) have now been enforced with payments in instalments, (d) are still ongoing and (e) have now been closed as unenforceable.

Helen Grant: The Ministry of Justice publishes, annually and quarterly, statistical data on workload trends in tribunals including employment tribunals. This data includes that on the volume of complaints presented to, and disposed by, employment tribunals, broken down by jurisdictional type. However, claims made to employment tribunals can be made up of one or more jurisdictional complaint(s) and, therefore, the volume of jurisdictional complaints disposed in favour of a claimant will not necessarily correlate to the number of successful claims disposed of, or to the volume of monetary awards made in favour of individual claimants.
	Monetary awards can be made by employment tribunals where a claimant is successful at a hearing, or wins a default judgment. Some information is collated centrally on the number of monetary awards made but it is only partial. It includes only information in respect of most (but not necessarily all) complaints about unfair dismissal or discrimination. Data in respect of monetary awards made in other types of claims is not collated centrally or is data on the number of non-monetary awards made. To provide it, we would have to trawl, manually, hard copy tribunal files. Accordingly, this could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The tables set out the number of claims, broken down by jurisdictional type, that were successful at hearing or where default judgment was entered. They also set out, where collated centrally and available, the number of monetary awards that were made in those jurisdictional categories.
	Table 1 covers data for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 financial years. Table 2 covers the same information, insofar as it is available, for the 2012-13 financial year to date. It covers only the first two quarters (April to September), where information is available to report publicly, in line with Official Statistics protocols.
	The endnotes to the tables set out further detail to explain how the data was gathered, and the limitations of its reliability.
	
		
			 Number of successful and default judgment claims by jurisdiction for 2010-11 and 2011-12 
			  2010-11 2011-12 
			 1(st) jurisdiction recorded(1) Successful at hearing Successful default judgments Number of monetary awards made(2) Successful at hearing Successful default judgments Number of monetary awards made(2) 
			 Unfair dismissal 3,400 990 2,600 3,300 920 2,300 
			 Wages Act 2,000 1,200 (3)— 1,300 1,100 (3)— 
			 Breach of contract 1,600 840 (3)— 990 880 (3)— 
			 Redundancy pay 1,500 1,600 (3)— 1,800 1,500 (3)— 
			 Sex discrimination 140 41 170 140 26 170 
			 Race discrimination 72 20 72 76 6 58 
			 Disability discrimination 100 21 72 110 10 78 
			 Religious belief discrimination 8 3 10 0 1 10 
			 Sexual orientation discrimination 9 3 12 7 1 10 
			 Age discrimination 39 6 26 10 10 23 
			 Working time 400 300 (3)— 340 340 (3)— 
			 Equal pay 260 1 (3)— 24 1 (3)— 
			 National minimum wage 14 6 (3)— 12 0 (3)— 
			 Others 1,800 650 (3)— 2,300 260 (3)— 
			 All 11,400 5.600 (3)— 10,400 5,100 (3)— 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of successful and default judgment claims by jurisdiction for 2012-13 
			  2012-13 (year to date, to end of Quarter 2 to September 2012) 
			 1(st) Jurisdiction recorded(1) Successful at hearing Successful Default judgments Number of monetary awards made(2) 
			 Unfair dismissal 1,600 410 (3)— 
			 Wages Act 670 650 (4)— 
			 Breach of contract 560 440 (4)— 
			 Redundancy pay 660 670 (4)— 
			 Sex discrimination 46 10 (3)— 
			 Race discrimination 32 6 (3)— 
			 Disability discrimination 46 10 (3)— 
			 Religious belief discrimination 1 0 (3)— 
			 Sexual orientation discrimination 7 1 (3)— 
			 Age discrimination 5 4 (3)— 
			 Working time 180 150 (4)— 
			 Equal pay 1 0 (4)— 
			 National minimum wage 5 2 (4)— 
		
	
	
		
			 Others 1,000 350 (4)— 
			 All 4,800 2,700 (3)— 
			 (1) Where data is drawn from the ET database about types of claims (rather than jurisdictional complaints) disposed of, it relates only to instances where the complaint type reported against was recorded as the first complaint within that claim. E.g. in a multi-jurisdictional claim involving unfair dismissal and sex discrimination, the database will only be able to report on the claim-level (rather than complaint-level) disposal by reference to the first-recorded complaint—in this instance unfair dismissal. Assuming the sex discrimination complaint was also successful, this would not be reported on in the 'Successful at Hearing' column. (2) Where monetary awards are concerned, the database records awards made in each applicable jurisdictional category. The cumulative number of monetary awards made, therefore, is not necessarily the same as the number of claimants who received monetary awards. Some claimants could have received awards in one claim relating to two (or more) separate complaints, for example. In these statistics, this would be recorded as two separate monetary awards. (3) Not collated centrally. (4) Not yet available. Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the following conventions: 1000s to the nearest 100; 100s to the nearest 10. 2. Numbers are independently rounded. Source: Employment tribunal database and annual reports (HM Courts and Tribunals Service, Ministry of Justice) 
		
	
	An exercise is currently under way to collect the first six months of data for financial year 2012-13 (April 2012 to September 2012) for the Employment Tribunal Fast Track and these figures will be available by the end of March 2013.
	Data for the second half of the 2012-13 financial year (October 2012 to March 2013) will be available in September 2013.
	I will write to you with the details thereafter on each occasion.
	Pursuant to the answer of 11 June 2012, Official Report, column 349W, it is not possible to provide an update for those 553 cases which remained subject, as of April 2012, to ongoing enforcement activity. While Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) collects data on a quarterly basis regarding the overall numbers and net outcomes of claimants using the Employment Tribunal Fast Track Scheme, it does not identify specific cases. It is therefore not possible to track enforcement outcomes for specific cases from quarter to quarter.

Employment Tribunals Service

Gordon Birtwistle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many awards for unpaid wages made to employees through the employment tribunal were not settled by the employer within (a) six months, (b) one year or (c) more than one year in each year since 2007;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the total amount awarded to employees for unpaid wages through the employment tribunal process since 2007.

Helen Grant: Monetary awards can be made by employment tribunals where a claimant is successful at a hearing, or wins a default judgment. Some information is collated centrally on the number of monetary awards made but it is only partial. It includes only information in respect of most (but not necessarily all) complaints about unfair dismissal or discrimination. Data on monetary awards made in respect of other types of complaints including those where the employer has failed to pay wages or make unauthorised deduction from wages is not collated centrally. To provide it, we would have to trawl, manually, hard copy tribunal files or judgments. Accordingly, this could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Without reliable, centrally collated, management information, it is very difficult to provide an account or reliable estimate for the number of awards, or their value. No estimate is made but the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has commissioned a research project to examine the reasons behind non-payment of awards to ensure that any action taken in this area is targeted and creates the right incentives. The field work is about to commence and the project is due to report in June.
	In May 2009, the Ministry of Justice published research, conducted by IFF Research Ltd, which considered payment and non-payment of employment tribunal awards. That research is available via the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/employment-tribunal-awards.pdf?type=Finjan-Download&slot=00000156&id=00000D55&location=0A640210

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Andrew McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what undertakings or correspondence he has had from the insurance industry that motor insurance premiums will be reduced as a result of lower fixed recoverable costs in the extended portal; and if he will place any such correspondence in the Library.

Helen Grant: At the Prime Minister's insurance summit on 14 February 2012, the insurance industry undertook to pass onto customers the savings resulting from the Government's commitment to reduce the £1,200 costs currently available to lawyers in the Road Traffic Accident Personal Injury scheme. In line with its commitment, the Government announced on 27 February that these costs will reduce to £500 on 30 April 2013.

Prisoners

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what (a) European and (b) other international laws, conventions and directives govern the way the UK manages its prison inmates.

Jeremy Wright: The Prison Act 1952, the Prison Rules 1999 and the Young Offender Institution Rules 2000 provide the statutory basis upon which prisoners are managed in England and Wales. As public authorities prisons must also comply with the Human Rights Act 1998 which domestically incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights. Prisons are a devolved matter and both Scotland and Northern Ireland are responsible for their own prisons.
	The main European and international measures that influence the way in which prisoners are managed include:
	(a) the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Council of Europe Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.
	(b) the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (and its Optional Protocol).

Work Capability Assessment: Appeals

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many appeals against a work capability assessment decision were withdrawn following the notification of death of the appellant in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013 to date.

Helen Grant: The First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions decisions on entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA), decisions in which the work capability assessment (WCA) is a factor.
	The following table shows the number of ESA (WCA) appeals that were withdrawn following the notification of the death of an appellant in 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and April to September 2012 (the latest period for which statistics have been published). Appeals can be made against elements of an ESA award made, such as the rate of entitlement, as well as against the decision to refuse ESA.
	
		
			 ESA (WCA) appeals(1) that have been withdrawn following notification on the death of the appellant 
			 Period ESA (WCA) Appeal receipts in the period(2) Number of appeals withdrawn following death of the appellant 
			 April 2009 to March 2010 122,400 5 
			 April 2010 to March 2011 184,800 16 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 165,300 12 
			 April 2012 to September 2012 117,000 6 
			 (1) The above table includes previously published data management information and previously published. (2) Data rounded to the nearest hundred.